Billie-Girl
Gets Butterflies
by
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So--if you look around a bit. Is Claudia normal? If you take all of her superior attitudes? What about Margie? No way, with all of her nonsense, can you call that normal. Kenny? The studious one who always has an answer for any problem? I don’t think so. Max, the loud and pushy one? Huh-uh! What about Pete and Gwen and all the other kids at the home; even Belle and Toni? Normal? If normal means conforming or adhering to a usual typical pattern or natural way; that gives me room to say that I’m not normal, doesn’t it? Believe me, I went to the dictionary and found more than I wanted to find under "normal". Ready for this? It said; "A; relating to or marked by average intelligence." But right after it was B; "free from emotional or physical disorders." Let me tell you, Mom’s wedding wasn’t free from emotional disorders. None of the above could be applied to that marriage. Vivaldi would have beamed with pride at the wedding that Belle and Toni staged at Four Seasons. If Mom had envisioned a quiet intimate affair, she was misled. Max would have had to take a back seat as director when it came to the two retired opera singers. My toes were getting cold because it was getting late, and Aunt Bert wasn’t there, but she arrived at the last minute; kind of like a trumpet fanfare. Flowers everywhere, but Mom and Aunt Bert didn’t carry or wear any. I thought the lavender lavaliere didn’t need any flowers. I had imagined that the judge would wear a robe but he didn’t. Grandmother Ross looked absolutely--maybe I should say majestic this time. She sat with Bev and me down front where we could see Hall and Mike. They looked so relaxed, but I was practically holding my breath as the kids all stood up to sing. They didn’t have uniforms or robes, just white blouses and shirts above their dark skirts and pants. The faces above the white were all sizes, ages and colors. We found Pete’s flashing eyes right away, and Gwen was glowing like a Christmas angel, as they sang "Ave Maria", I could just imagine that we were in a huge cathedral. Toni and Belle were beaming with satisfaction. They looked (and the whole thing looked) like an old oil painting. I was positively melting all over inside. Now, I ask you. So? What’s normal? ****** My toes were chunks of ice and the butterflies were migrating to my stomach early the next morning as we all gathered at the airport. When we finally got all the scenery stuff taken care of and we boarded and were taking off, I felt like I was like the plane soaring off into space and time.
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About the Book
See if you agree with Billie-Girl who says she isn’t normal because she isn’t upset over her parent's divorce. Whether she is normal or not, she is extraordinary and entertaining. She has a life-sized clown doll (Sappy) for a confidant and companion. Billie-Girl, her aunt (Bert-Girl), and her mother (Barb) toss rhyming words about to relieve tension when they are pressed for money to cover her dad’s gambling debts. Enter the knight-in-shining-armor, Hall, the museum curator who guides the three through an exciting adventure. In addition to her family, Billie-Girl has interesting friends and humorous events at school. A summer on Grandmother Ross’ ranch offers release from worrisome, mysterious phone calls and provides Billie-Girl with her first love; a horse named Storm, plus acquaintances with peacocks and mean ganders. A budding romance and a foiled elopement with a lovely, unbelievable wedding keeps Billie-girl asking, "So . . . what is normal?" In high school, BG acquires cold feet and gets butterflies in her stomach when faced with a decision to finish her Sr. year separated from her folks. Hall, knowing she will need wheels, buys her a surplus mail car. She paints the hood red and calls it Rudolph. Rudolph takes on Sappy’s role as confidant and hears all about; robberies, disappointments, adjusting to a new household, and putting up with dorky Brucie, drippy Julie, and pushy Max. Rudolph even becomes involved in the solving of the robbery. Billy is resentful because her family and friends are objecting about her invitation to a fraternity party. She also has ‘senior blues’ about her future. The Washington trip with the play brought forth new surprises. One surprise was her invitation to the prom. More butterflies. Who does she go with?
About the Author
Since childhood, Grace Rasmussen has been a writer; creating neighborhood drama (with plots probably stolen from Saturday matinee). Her poetry, short stories, and essays appear in a variety of periodicals as well as a monthly column in an Iowa newspaper. She has served on advisory boards for community colleges throughout Iowa and was selected as a layperson on the state examination board for Physical Therapy and headed a six-county volunteer project for nursing homes. Now that their six children have homes of their own, Leo and Grace have enjoyed world travel and indulging themselves in Broadway productions. They will travel anytime anywhere to hear Preservation Hall from New Orleans.