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WWII -- DYING ON THE TOILET 1/7/2010 12:21:56 PM
By Cindy Rodriguez, Commander, U.S. Navy (ret.) With Mom's permission I'm including an excerpt directly from her book for today's blog. I didn't want to ruin anything by interpreting this particular story, but I can set the stage. Coming of age isn't as much of a mystery today as it was back then. Actually it wasn't really a mystery back then because it was never discussed. Children had no idea what faced them when puberty struck. There was no sex education and parents were too embarrassed to discuss coming of age with their children so, like Mom, many muddled through on their own.
FROM "LAMB OF LEGACY":
"Once a year, a doctor would come to examine us at school. He chewed me out for biting my fingernails. I was also bluntly told I needed a bra and that I would ripen early. I was 12-years-old at the time. When I went home and told Muttie that I needed a bra, she slapped me across my face. As it turns out, "bra" was a very nasty word. Later, I managed to get up enough courage to ask Muttie what it meant to "ripen early." I was prepared for another slap just in case this too was a subject that was never to be broached. Muttie said, "When the time comes, I will tell you."
Soon after that conversation, Muttie was away visiting a friend when I noticed I had blood in my panties. I couldn't understand where it came from. I was also in a lot of pain. More and more blood came. I needed to use the bathroom, but I was afraid I would bleed to death. Finally, I couldn't hold my bladder any longer and used the toilet. I had made my peace and was ready to die on the toilet by then. Still, I was whimpering the whole time, because I really didn't want to die. To my surprise, when I had finished, I was still alive. When Muttie came home, I told her everything, and that I thought I was dying. To my great relief, she explained that this was what the school doctor meant by getting ripe early."
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Mom goes on to admit she was a bit ticked to find out this mess would be a monthly occurrence.
