As my family and I walked to the car this morning, it was a pleasant surprise to feel a slight chill in the air. I am ready to send this extended summer season out the door with her bags packed so even the smallest sign of fall’s arrival was welcomed.
But moments after I felt Mother Nature’s cool breeze, my smile disappeared. The flashbacks from my childhood began, and I almost found myself on the ground in the fetal position.
My grandmother has forever scarred my memory when it comes to the arrival of the cooler months and temperatures. Maw Maw left a permanent mark with her overdressing of me when even the tiniest hint of cooler weather arrived.
Keep in mind, it is not like we lived in Alaska or even New England. We lived in Monticello, Mississippi. A frigid landscape it most certainly was not.
When the first leaf would fall or when a cool breeze floated through Lawrence County, Maw Maw immediately began pulling sweaters, coats, gloves and scarves out of the closet. I was once snatched inside the kitchen screen door because I attempted to leave wearing flip flops.
Maw Maw had an unhealthy fear of germs, colds or any illness when the cooler weather set in. She took it to the extreme. She would rather you sweat to death than release a cough under your breath.
I remember it vividly because it was one of the most embarrassing moments of first grade, and, believe me, there were plenty. It was about this same time of year because I remember it was the day that my first grade class at Monticello Elementary was going to have its Halloween party.
And a cool breeze rustled around my house that morning. Checking the temp gauge at 57-degrees, Maw Maw was ready.
Within minutes before leaving for school, I was a prisoner inside an itchy wool sweater and denim jacket. She even put cotton balls in my ears and a scarf around my head to prevent the wind from hitting my ears.
“I look stupid,” I said, eating my cereal with my grandfather. “It’s not even that cold. I tried to put a T-shirt under this sweater so I could just take it off at school, but Maw Maw caught me.”
“You gotta be slicker,” Paw Paw said. “Put the shirt in your book bag so she won’t know you have it. It’s too late now.”
Slicker? Says the man who had sweat dripping down his face because he was burning up inside a flannel long-sleeve shirt. Maw Maw had already gotten her grips on him before me.
So I headed to school with a wool sweater on and left my dignity at the door. When I entered my classroom, I was even mocked by my fellow classmates who accused me of wearing a Christmas sweater.
“You know it’s Halloween, not Christmas,” Jessica said, snickering.
“I see you wore your mask,” I replied, pointing to her bare face.
Settling into my chair, the sweat began to pour down my face. I started scratching my neck where the wool sweater was making me itch. I snatched those cotton balls out of my ears and threw them away in disgust.
I went through that morning in sheer misery. I felt like I was on fire. I was sweating uncontrollably. I longed for water. I started seeing fuzzy. And I just knew any minute I was going to get sick.
Before I knew it, I slumped down into my chair and slid to the floor. I couldn’t help it.
“Mrs. Coleman,” a kid shouted. “She fell out.”
I was so embarrassed. Mrs. Coleman began pouring water in my mouth, spilling it all over my face as I gagged and coughed.
“Let’s get her to the office,” Mrs. Coleman said to her teacher’s assistant. “We gotta strip her out of some of these clothes.”
“She ‘bout to get naked,” Tom shouted to the eruption of laughter from the class.
After this whole debacle, I had to sit in the office and wait on Maw Maw to come get me from school. My face was red, my hair was wet from Mrs. Coleman’s water boarding, and I was wearing an oversized T-shirt from the lost and found.
I held my head down in shame as I walked to Maw Maw’s car.
Entering Maw Maw’s car, it felt like a sauna inside there. She had the heat cranked up all the way.
“Turn the heat down, Earlene,” Paw Paw demanded. “She’s already overheating. I’m rolling the window down.”
“Don’t you dare,” Maw Maw bellowed. “That child will catch her death of dampness. I’ll turn the heat off, but that’s it.”
Before I knew it, Maw Maw was shoving cotton balls into my ears for the ride home. I didn’t mind it so much at that point. It helped drown out the arguing between Maw Maw and Paw Paw.
The heat was definitely on in that car.
But it wasn’t coming out of the air vents.
