Well, that’s one way to do it!

I was one of those wholesome, “Goody Two-Shoes” kinds of kids, even as a teenager. I had wanted to get my ears pierced for quite a while, but my mother famously said: “If God wanted to put more holes in your head he would’ve put them there!” My family had moved from Northern California to Virginia during my teenage years. One summer, when I was about 20, I got to go back to California without my family, on my own, and visited my mom’s best friend, Marion, who had a daughter a year younger than I, who decided that I needed to get my ears pierced. I told them about how my mom had forbidden me from doing it. Marion and her daughter took me into San Francisco, and at Ghirardelli Square there was a lovely jewelry shop with signs everywhere about free earrings if you get your ears pierced. Marion and her daughter were both very excited to take me there, but I reminded them about how my mom felt (yeah, I was a good kid back then!) Marion: “Oh, Shirley won’t mind!” Me: “Oh, yes she will!” Nonetheless I reminded myself that I was 20 years old and it was about time I started acting like it. So I did it! Of course, guilt came over me, and this was early into my trip (before the days of text messaging) so I wrote my mom a letter that went something like this: “Having a great time out here and everything is fine, but I do need to tell you something. No, I did not have an accident. No, I’m not pregnant. No, I’m not using drugs… turn page.” And on the back side of the paper I wrote: “But I did get my ears pierced! Love you!” I was expecting a phone call at Marion’s house but I did not get one and was wondering how the news was received. Apparently my mom was rolling with laughter, and with that type of introduction to the idea (and her relief that nothing bad happened), how could she be upset? And that, my friends, is how I got my ears pierced!