User:Raina
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Hello! Welcome to Raina's page!
Born in Eureka, California, my parents moved me, kicking and screaming, to Jackson, Mississippi, in 1958. All my siblings were married, except for one sister, who was 3-1/2 years older than I.
While my sister seemed to settle in Mississippi a little better than I did, I was not a very good little southern girl and was determined to return to Eureka at the earliest possible moment. I quickly learned, however, not to mention it to my parents who, after some profound persuasion, told me I would never leave Mississippi -- ever. Regardless, after 3-1/2 years there, we did leave, taking up residence in Beaver Dam, Kentucky, then St. Louis, Missouri.
I met my present husband in St. Louis, and we dated for over 2 years, but he broke up with me when he moved to the West Coast. I later met my first husband in southern Illinois. Married at 19, I moved with him to Minneapolis, Minnesota. He was immediately drafted for Viet Nam, but he never left the States; rather, we moved to Laurel, Maryland, where his talent as a mathematician was used until he was discharged. I was six months pregnant with our first child -- a little girl -- who was born in Minnesota.
During my first husband's time in the service, my present husband was also drafted, fought in Viet Nam as a machine gunner, and was wounded when a soaking-wet bunker fell upon him, breaking his back. He was sent to Hawaii to recuperate, and there, he married a young lady to whom he had been engaged. They had one son then adopted a 3-year-old girl.
When our girl was 3-1/2, we had our little boy. He was barely two when my first husband was killed in an airplane accident. After the initial shock, I tried dating but hated it. The experiences made me determined to never marry again, so I concentrated on my children and moved them to my old hometown, Eureka, California. The Social Security benefits were great; however, I knew that the time would come when I needed to be able to support myself and my children. All I had was a diploma from a high school with a 75% drop-out rate, plus a few college classes -- not enough to earn any money.
Father had been a minister in a very fundamentalist church, and neither they nor my parents believed in attending college. I was still a member in that church but went back to college anyway, mainly attending the College of the Redwoods. I majored in English and hoped to gain a teaching degree at Humboldt State University.
When my second spring semester was over, I received the news that my present husband's wife had died. As a friend to both of them, I thought I should make some attempt to comfort him, so we met at a convention on the West Coast. We married the next summer, putting our two families together -- two girls and two boys -- all teens. I never got to finish school, and it was a very -- uh -- exciting time in our lives. Fortunately, we all lived through it, the children grew to be wonderful, productive adults, and all are now married with families.
We just celebrated our 17th anniversary. We have been through a lot -- from my getting kicked out of that church after 50 years' attendance, to our choosing completely different religions, to many personal tragedies -- but we've made it.
As you can see, I am not a scholar: I am just an average person with many interests, a lot of curiosity -- and very strong opinions.
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Writings by Raina?
Oh, I can't lay claim to much. I have always loved writing, but my efforts were mainly for self-entertainment. I did write a pamphlet on child abuse which had a very small circulation among church friends and enemies all over the United States, but it had a far larger (and positive) impact on some than I ever expected. Thank You, HaShem!
I've written humorous poetry and songs (music and words) as well as some very vicious and angry poetry. I've written some very vicious prose and a journal that, by necessity, is quite private as well. I was the editor of the newsletter at the church I had attended. I have been published several times but nothing was big enough to brag about.
My Interests
My family. Also, as I wrote earlier, I love to write, but I especially enjoy drawing portraits. I have large collections of both bumble bees and rubber ducks -- uh-huh. The interest that makes me "me," however, is laughter: I often have a difficult time trying to be serious.
My Favorite Music
- Classical music
- The music at my synagogue
- American folk music
- Jazz
- I love to sing the blues, spirituals, and many other types of music -- including the songs I write.
My Favorite Books (At This Time)
- Torah and the rest of the Bible
- Books about Torah
- While Standing on One Foot by John Segal
- The Judaic Tradition by Nahum N. Glatzer
- Neglected Stories of the Constitution and Family Values by Peggy Cooper Davis
- Mommy, When Will the Lord Be Two? by Ruth Seligman and Jonathan Mark
- Anything by Kafka
- The Collected Drawings of Aubrey Beardsley (Aubrey Beardsley)
My Favorite Movies
- The Great Dictator (Charlie Chaplin) and other Charlie Chaplin movies
- Anything with Jimmy Stewart in it
- Anything with Katherine Hepburn in it
- Some W. C. Fields
- Anything with Cary Grant
- Alfred Hitchcock
- Anything in which Hitler gets trounced
- -- I'm not crazy about modern movies, obviously