SERENDIPITY

I've always loved that word....serendipity.  I even remember when I first discovered it.  It was in my 12th grade English class.  My teacher, Mrs. Cleveland, believed we seniors needed to have an extensive vocabulary and her weekly drills did increase mine!  Serendipity:  making a discovery while looking for something else.  That's exactly what happened to me today.  While looking in a box of memorabilia (I have many) for a newspaper article I had saved, I found my old AUTOGRAPH  BOOK.  In case you are too young to remember those, they were small books with blank pages and the owner would diligently work to get all her friends and acquaintances to write a note in them.  Autograph books actually date back as far as the 15th century though they seemed to lose their popularity quite a few years ago.  From some of the entries, I can tell that my book dates back to 1960, maybe even a little before.  As I read through the entries I laughed out loud.  Signers usually write a short rhyme or poem, some flattering, some not.  One I particularly liked was written by my friend and distant cousin JAN:

Oranges are grown in Florida,

Grapefruits are grown there, too.

But it takes a state like GEORGIA,

To grow a PEACH like you!

I do consider myself a "GA Peach".....

One not quite so flattering was written by my on-again, off-again boyfriend WINCEL (we actually used to take baths together in a washtub when we were toddlers):

Roses are red,

Violets are blue,

If I was you,

I'd go to the zoo.

One written by a really cute boy named E.H. I rather like:

Roses are red,

Violets are blue.

You've got a figure

Like a B-52.

(That was a compliment, wasn't it?  Of course, I doubt my figure was anything to get too excited about at the age of 11!)

     I think kids today miss out on a lot.  The fun my generation had growing up was much more innocent and simple.  I think I may see if I can find an AUTOGRAPH BOOK for my granddaughter when she gets a little older.  Then when she's in her senior years (am I really there already???) she can look back and remember and laugh as I have today.