Today I have visited with my parents at the homeplace. We went to Chick-Fil-A for lunch (my favorite fast food place), spent the afternoon rummaging through old stuff, and then watched Seabiscuit after dinner (I have to admit, I cried at several really touching parts- it's OK to call me an emotional wreck).

The most fun was had going through old stuff. The catalyst for all of this was my discovery earlier today of a children's book called Tiggy and the Babysitter at an antique mall across from our house. I had the book when I was a little girl, along with a dozen other books in the series, and suddenly I had the desire to look at them all. Those books, along with my Care Bears books (Sweet Dreams for Sally, The Trouble With Timothy) are stored away carefully in a box and wrapped in newspaper to keep the mice out. Supposedly the box is stored in the packhouse at my Grandmother's house, but a search for the box earlier today yielded nothing. I have a sneaking suspicion that something has been done with the books without my knowledge, and someone is trying to hide the truth from me. If that does turn out to be true, all heck will break loose.

As a substitute, I ran across a box filled with grade school art projects, tests, and writing assignments. Along with construction paper pumpkins, an assortment of pictures I colored, and 100 A+ tests (I was such a nerd), I found the following story, and I thought I would share. Based on the handwriting and placement with other documents, I estimate its creation to have taken place during my third grade year.

"Charlie the Lonesome Spider
Once there was a girl named Joanna. She had two dogs and two goldfish. Early one morning when her mother got her up, she saw a spider in a web. She liked him very much and said, "Hi, little spider." She put him in a box and said, "I'll name you Charlie."

She took Charlie to school with her that day. Everybody liked him. Almost everybody played with him. That morning, Charlie got out of the box. Everyone tried to catch him. But it was no use. No one could catch him.

Before long Charlie had disappeared. He was out of sight. Joanna cried and cried. A few weeks later they found Charlie dead. A year later Joanna bought a spider ring. She named it Charlie. Even though it was fake it looked like him. Her friend Michele reminded her about Charlie. Joanna has cried over death in the family a lot."

Does anyone else find this even remotely disturbing? I wonder if this sheds any light on my current fascination with and friendliness toward spiders. I wonder if it was based on a true story. Was there a spider named Charlie? Did he die? And if so, was I truly traumatized?

This could explain so much.