Winter is full of memories

All the snowy weather I keep seeing from the midwest and other areas reminds me of how much I enjoyed that pesky white stuff back when I was a girl. Unfortunately, I also remember back in those days when I suffered a serious accident involving the sled I was riding and a taxi cab.

My boyfriend (I didn't know then that he would someday become my husband) and I, in our early teens, were taking a final run down our favorite snow-covered hill just before 11 p.m. on a cold winter night, when a taxi cab appeared suddenly from the darkness. The hill had been declared 'off limits' for vehicular traffic beginning at 9 p.m. every night, just because of the kids who loved sledding on it. The taxi driver, however, was not familiar with the area and didn't know that.

In those ancient days, automobiles still used chains on their rear tires for deep snow. The chains caught in my long woolen skirt and lifted me off my partner's back and carried me quite a distance before the driver became aware that something was amiss, and managed to come to a stop.

When he saw that it was a person who had been dragged by the cab, he was so upset that he collapsed, unconscious. My boyfriend somehow got us both inside the cab, and drove to the nearest hospital. The worst part of all was that he had to call my father on the telephone and tell him what had happened.

He also had to call his own parents, but when he told his mother there had been an accident, she seemed to be more worried that he might have torn his trousers than anything else.

I had a long convalescence with a broken pelvis, and had to watch him take another girl to the spring prom. But all's well that ends well - after all, he WAS mine for more than 60 years!

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If you are a fan of jazz singer Holly Shelton, as I am, you will be happy to know that she, along with three other singers, will be performing at the Jazz Society's "Diva Extravaganza."

This semi-annual fundraiser will begin at 8 p.m. February 9th at Seville Quarter, along with Joe Occhipinti and his big band. Advance tickets are $20, and $25 at the door. Proceeds help the Jazz Society put on the spring Jazz Festival we all enjoy so much.

Both Holly and Joe are regarded as "Pensacola's Own" and never disappoint an audience. I guarantee this show will please everyone. See you there!

Did you know the electric chair was invented by a dentist. (Well, that figures!)

See you next week!