Stories by Donna Marie Todd

I was always on the outskirts of high fashion. But when the fishnet hose and mini-skirts arrived in my school, I was determined to have them!

It was a dark and stormy Halloween eve when I ended up somewhere I wasn't supposed to be.

We've all had one:  a bad hair cut that just can't grow out fast enough! This is the story of a sheep-shearing beautician who gave me just such a haircut, and it scarred me for life. (Well, not really, but I do have an un-natural fear of scissors and clippers.)

Back when I was a kid in West Virginia, we didn't go to the pool, we went to the swimming hole, down at the bottom of Old Man Reynolds pasture.  This is a story about the time we almost drown there.  Best enjoyed wearing your Big Girl Pants.

When I was 12 I knew a woman who was bedfast with rheumatoid arthritis for 14 years. When her caregiver could no longer care for her she was sent to a home for invalids, where a difficult new thing called Physical Therapy was tried on her condition.  She earned her Badge of Courage when she survived it and learned how to transfer herself from a bed to a wheelchair, open a can, and go to the bathro...

Back when I was in middle school, we took a survivalism class. It was called home ec. All girls had to take it. The boys took shop. We learned to sew and cook; they learned to change their oil and hammer a nail.  We should never have dropped those mandatory classes. Now we have young parents who can't cook a potato or change the oil in their car.

I don't guess that there's s a way to prepare to see your mother fully naked. I know no one tried to prepare me. I was maybe thirteen, and it just happened, on a stormy afternoon in late summer, just as I was developing my own "woman's body." Seeing her changed everything.

I learned very confusing information about sex in our "health" class during PE. When I got my first period, I assumed I was dying, since "periods" were mentioned but no one said anything about blood.

When you don't get picked for volleyball or asked to the school dance, a horse may just end up as your best friend.

I was rescued during a difficult year in middle school by a cook named Tiny.  She taught me that the bullies torturing me were just as insecure as I was. After all the positive lessons she provided in self-esteem, I watched her give her own up to keep a man.

My pastor father was a white man involved in the Civil Rights movement. This is the story of how he stood up to the Three Kings, the power-brokers in a mountain town determined to keep things as they were. When trouble is looming, you need your Big Girl Pants.

Social intrigue begins early. There are always the popular ones, the bullies, and the things we don't want to do that others think are "good for us."  This is the story of how I "got to" go to Scout camp where the first thing I "got to" do was dig a latrine. Things went downhill from there.  

The most fun I've ever had was on the back of a horse. I was a clumsy child. I flunked out of ballet.  I fell on my teacher after trying to turn my feet out in fourth position one too many times. Atop a horse, I was regal and elegant. Wrapping my legs around their power has always been magical for me. I dreamed of having a dappled gray Arabian but that dream never came true.

Sometimes things happen to you that you can't forget. Sometimes those things stay with you when you're an adult. Experiences that influence you in ways you aren't always aware of, or sometimes you are aware of them, but you just can't do anything about it. This is the story of how that happened to me. 

I grew up in West Virginia. Everyone assumes that it's a poor state but some of the richest people I've ever known live in West Virginia. That's because it's a feudal state. You're either a baron or a serf, there's not much in between.  As the divides between the "haves" and the "have almost nothings" continues to grow, you might find this story of life in the 60's informative.

We live in a world on the move. There are secrets to knowing how to make a move and still keep a little peace in your life. Here's the story of how we did it.

Kindergarten forced me to leave my childhood dreams and start memorizing 26 letters in an arbitrary order. It was the beginning of my realization that often "education" is more about forcing young minds into compliant boxes than inspiring knowledge.

As the first born, I was a Princess with many welcoming arms and laps. Then my baby sister was born, and everything changed. I hadn't realized how protective I was of her until an e bully picked on her in elementary school. I almost killed him for it. 

My sister and I never watched cartoons in the morning like normal kids, because we never knew who was in the basement.

I was always moving somewhere. But my birth was a much anticipated event back in the hills of West Virginia!

The Urkanians celebrating Easter on Sunday reminded me of the Easter I experienced when I was six. I'll never forget that exploding egg.

What would you like to use again, pay more attention to, or see differently? Resurrection means doing exactly this.

Spring is here and nature is busy with procreation. The birds and the bees provide such an interesting mirror for human behavior. 

Sometimes it can be hard to see where you're going in life, especially when fear joins the party!