I am blonde and big breasted - you can imagine how I was stereotyped.
I had a pretty great upbringing - my family and friends were multicultural and widely "different". So I don't really think of people in stereotypical ways.
My father was the vice president of Siemans, so I got to meet many people from all over the world.
My mothers friends included people who played important roles in the history of Buffalo. Frank Lloyd Wright is famous but I got know the people who discovered him and hired him to design their buildings and summer homes.
I also have a few "wild" members of my family. Of course I loved to hang out with them and my parents always let me. The 60s were a bit of a crazy time and I loved being included in all the pomp and circumstance.
My uncle had one of the first adult strip clubs in western NY. Some may think it strange but I visited it when I was young. I remember the woman were kind and beautiful and the club was absolutely fascinating. I don't recall them doing their routines - I think we must have visited when the club was just getting ready to open.
One hears lots of stories of hard core motorcycle members. When some people think of members of the Hell's Angels motorcycle gang, they are apt to think of a bunch of dirty, long haired drug taking tattooed criminals. I think of Sonny Barger giving me a cool hat when I was a little girl.
Being so young might have had a lot to do with how I was treated - everyone was always kind and tried to protect me. I remember one time I was visiting one a friend and I accidentally stumbled across a marijuana cigarette under a chair. Oh my were they upset that they might have corrupted me!
My favorite Aunt, Joanie, never allowed one to talk disparagingly about other nationalities. One did not call Polish people "Pollacks" or Germans "Krauts" - she felt it was disrespectful even when done in a teasing way.
Aunt Joanie was also the most joyful and fun person I have ever met in my life. She also lived life to it's fullest and was quite the feminist long before it was popular.
She had 2 boyfriends at the same time and did so for 25 or 30 years. The men alternated holidays for as long as I could remember - one would come to Christmas Eve and the other Christmas Day, one New Years Eve and the other New Years Day etc. There were no secrets - they both knew about each other - but it didn't matter because they both loved her to bits.
Free spirit that she is Aunt Joanie ended up breaking both their hearts - dumping them both to move out to Colorado - they miss her to this day.
Although I probably went off topic - it was fun reminiscing about a few of my favorite memories of growing up. I could probably write a novel about all the strange and wonderful people I've known.
