Worms III
By: susan peterson stamis
Tags: Dad, foreign service, jamaica, kaopectate, reading, red sails, sunset, travel, whistling, worms
Category: Uncategorized
The windows of our Old Stony Hill Road home in Jamaica overlooked the gently rolling green valleys below us. Little Susie’s bedtime was just before the sun sank below the Caribbean Sea and my evening ritual was to watch the bright orange ball disappear into the distant shimmering water.
After I was tucked in and kissed goodnight, it was up to me to figure out a way to secretly stay awake, seeking out the slim crack of light from the hallway to read under the covers. I was probably successful a few times, but when I was put to bed, my mother fully expected me to fall asleep and stay asleep until the sun made its way back around in the morning. To ensure this, Mom often hid around the corner for a bit, listening for the incriminating sound of rustling bed sheets and then swinging around through my partially open doorway to catch me in the act.
Secret sneak reading became irrelevant in the face of another bout of “The Worms,” when my only goal was to successfully target the strategically placed trash can at the side of the sickbed. My sister, perched patiently on the other edge, was probably assigned sentinel duty to assure that my aim was true but her bored vigilance is comical.
Kaopectate was the disgusting stuff guaranteed to curb the emissions, but the dread at having that big soupspoon full of thick white chalky horrible tasting liquid shoved into the mouth that I refused to open was more than I could bear, and my little self usually became hysterical during the dosing ordeal. The promise of a ginger ale chaser was only mildly enticing, but I finally relented after my exasperated parents threatened to withhold the nightly sunset ritual if I didn’t take my medicine.
I capitulated and opened my mouth, gasping and crying, but grudgingly grateful for the reward of watching the sun go to bed. Somewhere in that very vivid memory, I hear “Red Sails in the Sunset,” maybe from an old record on the hi-fi downstairs, or maybe my sweet tired Dad was whistling for me, something he did well and often.
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About Me
My father was a Consular Officer in the United States Foreign Service. He was first stationed in post World War II Berlin, where I was born in 1950. Subsequently, we lived in the Philippines; Jamaica; Guatemala; Washington, DC; Greece; Ceylon and Mexico; visiting many places in between. I was reared by my parents and nurtured by the various amahs, nannies, and housemaids who, every two years or so, entered and exited my little life.
I was educated in American Schools in “foreign lands,” but the most fascinating classrooms were the exotic locales where we lived, and the most inspiring teachers were the colorful people of those exotic and ancient cultures.
The bi-annual “home leaves” which my family spent at my grandparents’ homes in Los Angeles, California provided a sense of constancy to our nomadic lifestyle. My many aunts, uncles and cousins lived there and I eagerly looked forward to those vacations. We were 1st and 2nd generation Greek Americans (all 4 of my grandparents had immigrated at the turn of the century), and thus had foreignness stamped onto us even though we were Americans.
Two of my father’s siblings were also in the diplomatic service, and we world-traveling cousins were a source of endless curiosity to our domestic counterparts when we came home speaking English with unusual accents, reducing the statesiders to hysterics.With his various cameras, Kodachrome, Ektachrome, 16 millimeter, Super 8 and Polaroid, my father rarely lost an opportunity to document the events unfolding around us. After years of waiting patiently in boxes under the stairs, these photographic records are now fulfilling their purpose as mnemonic retrievals of my little life.
Mnemonic Retrievals 
Some people have the gift to write and some to paint……………but, to have both is truly wonderful for your friends. Thank you for sharing these gifts each month.
You paint with words! Truly wonderful!❤️