Thinking

Yes I'm thinking about my talk in March. Remembering when I went to St. Paul's convent in Hong Kong.
The streets in Victoria (capital of H.K.) were clustered in different themes. There was a bird street which sold birds and cages. A Flower street and so on. The most popular was the Tailor street which sold material and had small makeshift buildings where a tailor would make any pattern you wanted very quick and cheap.
Mother used to sew all our dresses but then she reverted to this Tailor street idea because it was excellent. I do recall one material she bought, shrank to fit a thimble when washed and never recovered but on the whole all else was satisfactory.


There were mostly Philippine girls boarding at the Convent and at that time, their parents had sent them to learn English and know of Western ways. As I was always drawing, they would ask me to design dresses for them to suit their figures, buy material and have the clothes made on Tailor Street.
I thought a dress designer would be a good career for me. I imagined sitting in a studio with an easel and coloured pens and inks, making flourishing marks on paper with gay abandon! I didn't know I would have to do years of studying, learn pattern-making and how to stitch the things together.
And when I was ready to leave the school the Reverend Mother enquired of us, "What line of work will you go into?" I said "A dress designer." and it reminds me of the joke.


The Reverend Mother of a convent school asked the graduating girls the same question.
The first girl answered "A teacher."
The second said "A nurse."
The third girl said "I'm going to be a Prostitute."
and the Reverend Mother fell in a faint. When she 'came to' she said "I guess I didn't hear right - What did you say you were going to be?"
And the girl said "I'm going to be a Prostitute."
The Reverend Mother smiled with relief.
"Oh! she said, "Thank you Lord. I thought she said she was going to be a Protestant".


I woke this morning at 5 a.m. had pain so took a Tynenol. I've finished the other pill. Went back to sleep and woke to the phone at 10:45 a.m. Brenda was ready to take me for the blood test. We first went for lunch here and drove to the lab and then to Willy's.
His voice had recovered and was talking well - complete turnaround from the last time I saw him. However he couldn't manage to walk his wheel-chair again and when Brenda tried to push him, he didn't raise his feet so you couln't budge him. Talked to Vickey (activity) and she said they will retrieve his big, unwieldy wheelchair. He's already in the dining room where they feed the residents so they are aware of his condition.


I came home with a lighter frame of mind knowing he can be better one day and down the next which is better than being down every day.


Brenda is in better spirits because it looks as though she'll go for a holiday. More another time. Signed Getting there Doris