Dear Diary,
It’s nice to meet you.
My name is Lily Mitchell.
It’s 1970.
So, why did I decide to start a diary?
Well, there are a lot of big things going on. Big like a whole war in Vietnam type big.
I’m not big. In fact, I’m pretty small. I have something called Turner syndrome.
Diaries are small too. But I think maybe words are big. Stories are big.
So here I am. Trying to see if I can write words big enough for this wide, gigantic world.
I guess we’ll see.
Lily
Dear Diary,
Why do gym teachers think we should all be able to climb a rope? Is there some kind of life experience where climbing a rope is going to be crucially important? Crucially is a fun word to say. Miss Baker says words can sound like music, and I wonder what kind of music the word “crucially” would be.
Anyway.
I can’t climb a rope.
I talked to Cecily for a long time on the phone last night. Dad said it was OK, because she’s my sister, even though I know talking on the phone for a long time costs money.
She’s coming home tomorrow, which is amazing, but it’s because her university got closed, which is not. The whole university shut down because there were lots of anti-war protests and marches.
I could ask her to teach me how to climb a rope. She’s groovy at everything. Even climbing ropes, I bet. But I just don’t think I’m built to climb a rope. I’m the shortest in my class, and even though I think I’m pretty strong, my arms are sort of short too, and I just can’t hoist myself up. I feel like a penguin trying to climb a rope. It just doesn’t work.
Before her university got closed, Cecily went to some of the marches and protests. One time, when I was talking to her on the phone, she was making signs with her roommate. Signs that said, “Bring our troops home now” and “End the war”. She says that President Johnson was totally wrong about sending troops to Vietnam in 1965. A new president – President Nixon – was elected last year, and the protesters are trying to make sure he stops the war.
Mum and Dad say that she’s right about the war, but I still hear them talking at night about how worried they are. When Cecily goes to the protests, they get extra worried. I think they’re pretty glad she’s coming home.
Tonight, Mum made yummy pineapple chicken,
and we watched The Carol Burnett Show. It’s definitely my favourite, even though a lot of other people at school like Mary Tyler Moore better. I think Mary Tyler Moore is … well, boring. Too normal. I like how Carol Burnett isn’t afraid to be silly and wear ridiculous costumes and sing funny songs. Tonight, she made Dad laugh so hard, he snorted his drink out of his nose. I think it’s pretty cool that Carol Burnett can do that – make people laugh, even when they’re worried about their daughter whose university just got closed.
I wonder if Carol Burnett can climb a rope.
Lily
Dear Diary,
More bad news.
Another thing I’m not super great at.
In Art class, I’ve been making a welcome
home sign for Cecily. I’ve never been really great at art stuff – one time I tried to draw a cow and somehow it came out looking like a frog. But I wanted to try. For Cecily.
I thought it was all going OK, and the sign was looking mostly decent. Then I tried to add a drawing of a bobcat, because that’s the mascot for Cecily’s university. But somehow it also ended up looking like a frog. Worse than a frog. A blob with bug eyes.
I can’t climb a rope, and I can’t draw.
So, I basically ruined my sign. Oops.
I was just going to start over, but then I heard whispering behind me. It was Jennifer and her friend Barb, of course. Usually Jennifer just ignores me, but that’s much better than when she doesn’t ignore me because when she pays attention, it’s most often … not very nice.
Jennifer and Barb were sitting at the desks behind me and I heard them whispering. I thought I heard them say my name, but I wasn’t sure. I don’t hear so