Growing up, I always envied my mother’s skill at crossword puzzles. We got a daily newspaper from Boston (probably the Globe) and she did it every day. She also had the small paperbacks of crosswords and I soon started working them as well. I was a voracious reader by age ten and did pretty well at adult crosswords by age twelve. I haven’t done many in the past years and I miss it.
I also loved jigsaw puzzles as a child. We had one room that we called the den. My mother’s sewing machine, a small record player, a sofa/couch used for when we were sick), and bookcase. I would set up an old card table (remember those – folding legs, cardboard feeling top and mostly used for playing cards) and lay out my puzzle pieces. I loved the challenge of them, the more pieces the better.
I think I read every book in the bookcase – some were fairly adult (Peyton Place comes to mind) but it didn’t matter to me. The favorites were Reader’s Digest Condensed Books. Oh my, stories upon stories upon stories! Of course I had my own favorite books and visited the local library weekly. Reading was my escape as it still is today.
One of the first adult books I remember reading was A Tree Grows in Brooklyn. It probably wasn't appropriate for my age, but I loved it and read it many times while still living at home.
I remember reading that as well!
I’ve always loved crossword puzzles and jigsaw puzzles (no peeking at the picture!), and I read everything I could get my hands on. I read “Gone With the Wind” when I was probably 12. Then went on to Hawaii by Michener.
I read Hawaii in my very early 20s – then I went to the movie. Ugh! First time I realized how much better books were than their movie versions.
We loved jigsaw puzzles as kids. One Winter in PA, We had a blizzard a few days before Christmas vacation so school was canceled and vacation extended. (Another blizzard came the night before we were to return to school after New Years giving us another full week off!) My brilliant father, stopped on his way home from work at a popular weekly auction and brought home a huge (think washing machine) carton which he got for $1.50. It was entirely full of jigsaws. Most of the kids in the neighborhood, whose Moms worked, congregated at our house around the fireplace, working puzzles on the heated floor. Their moms sent casseroles or soup with them to
feed everyone. When the power went out we sat on blankets wearing sweaters, doing the puzzles.
I know now that must have been a miserable time for our folks but 65 years later several of my
friends agree it was the best winter ever.
Oh my, what a wonderful memory! Thank you for sharing!!