Sunday, May 16, 2010

What are your Superstitions

My Grandmother and her Superstitions

I’m starting a new book where one of the heroines is charming, but ruled by her superstitions. There are two heroines since the two heroes are twins. This one is going to be fun. And it set to my to thinking a lot about my grandmother.

My grandmother insisted her grandchildren call her Kate. It was surely the only modern thing about her. She so strict I hardly dared call her anything at all. Once I came home from the corner store with a carton of root beer. I had to take it back because it had ‘beer’ in the title. I hope she’s in heaven but hasn’t bothered to check my current life style! Oh, and if one gave you a purse you better find some money in it, although even a penny would do. If we went out the door, forget something and turned back, we had to circle a chair three times and then sit in it for a moment for being allowed back out. Oh yes, and you didn’t give anybody a knife because that would cut your friendship in two.

The one thing I remember with pleasure is that she had beautiful white hair which fell to her waist when she set it free from its tight bun. She occasionally let me brush it, and as a child I dearly loved doing that. She seemed a little fey at times. Once when we were on a visit she took my mother aside and told her to get me to a doctor, something was wrong with Jean. We laughed about it on the way home but a few days later I suffered an acute appendicitis attack which necessitated an emergency operation.

Mostly she was such an aloof figure I had little interaction with her. But I certainly remember that austere woman who somehow had my best interests at heart.

I’d love to know your superstitions. We all have some, even if we try to dismiss them as nonsense. Come on, tell me yours. Please?

4 comments:

  1. I'm superstitious when it comes to my sports. Whatever I'm wearing when they win, I make sure to wear it the next time they play.

    One year, every time I watched my Colts or Pacers on TV, they'd start losing. I was not allowed to watch them that year...and both teams did well:) Although...we went to a graduation party and the TV was tuned to the game. The Pacers lost, and everyone blamed me good naturedly:)

    I have heard the knife superstition before, as well as the purse one.

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  2. I'm always leery of Friday the 13th...after falling and spraining my ankle one year. It seemed like SOMETHING weird always happened to me on every Friday the 13th after that! If I don't need to drive that day, I don't.
    Then again, maybe I became so paranoid about the date I created my own trouble!
    Marianne/April

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  3. That happened to me once, Marianne...for whatever reason, one year I woke up and 'just knew' 13 bad things would happen. And they did, in spades! The following year, I forgot about the date until bedtime, and it had been one of the BEST days of the year:) It's all in the attitude.

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  4. I try not to be too superstitious but my first book came out on Friday the 13th, in Feb 09. My computer crashed and I had to go buy a new one that very same day!

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