Tuesday, April 20, 2010

Who is "Tammisuh?"

Yes, my blog is titled "Tammisuh Talks." Most of you may know me as Tammy Meinershagen, but in my heart of hearts, I’m still Tammy Suh. When I was 12, I signed my homework "Tammisuh" for fun, and that silly name has now returned to life!

This post will give you some fun facts that let you inside my world as "Tammisuh."

1. I grew up in a 90% white town in the early 80's: Rockford, Illinois. People literally would ask me if I was Kristi Yamaguchi. For fun, I would nod and sign autographs. 

2. I have 2 younger brothers, Ken and Peter. Ken now lives in New York with his wife Angie; they are about to have their first baby boy in July. Peter is graduating from college this year!

3. We all attended Northwestern University in Evanston, IL. Go Cats!!

4. My parents used to run a restaurant chain with my uncles called Aunt Mary’s (American diner), which still exists today. It now also has a bistro called Mary's Market that is very successful under my cousin Bryan's management. The best part about Aunt Mary's back then was the food my dad used to bring home for dinner, especially those shish kabobs!

5. My mom almost became a nurse, but did not finish because she got pregnant with me. This explains the desperation my parents felt in trying to convince me that I was too young to get married at 21 and not completely finished with my 5-year double degree program. Fortunately, I did finish and worked for 2 years as a 7/8 Language Arts teacher in Glencoe, IL before I had Ellie.

6. Some of my fondest childhood memories are at my home in 3256 Montlake Drive. The best times were after the Mendelssohn Club Music Competitions in February; after my brother Ken(ny) and I had practiced for months and months under the strict iron fist of my mother (who really only meant well, I know), we were allowed the entire afternoon for fun. This meant that we got dressed in our snowsuits, got our sleds out and built our racetracks out of snow in our sloping front yard. Kenny and I would be lost in trying to create the biggest obstacles for our courses, and just as we were crashing into a ginormous mound of snow laughing hysterically, my mom would come out screaming, “Tammy, you won!!”, and in that moment, I experienced true bliss. It was the greatest feeling ever. I’ll never forget those days. (I hope you realize that I’m not trying to be conceited. The relief of the competition coming to a close and knowing that all those hours were worth it, combined with the exhilaration of actually having fun for a change was an intoxicating combination for me.)

7. I would have to say that back then, Kenny and I were best friends. We played a lot together, and people always used to marvel at how well we got along as siblings. Here’s the secret: we both felt like prisoners, so we bonded! I hate to admit that, but it’s the truth. My mom ran our house so tightly that there was no room to breathe. Every minute had to be accounted for, and Kenny and I would try to figure out how to get around it. If she ever went out, we would look at each other and read each other’s minds: we had a singular thought-FREEDOM! We’d sometimes actually run up and down the stairs screaming and then furtively look around the windows to see if she was watching. Then we’d both race to the TV and turn it on, but with the volume so low that we could barely hear it. We had to be ready for the sudden rumbling of the garage door opening. We were experts at covering up our tracks as soon as we heard the first sound; one of us would turn off the TV and then the other one would run to the piano to start playing while the other ran to do homework or practice violin/cello. My mom would walk in calmly and then come right up to each of us and say, “So how long have you been practicing?” And we’d try to keep ourselves from huffing and puffing while we said, “An hour.” Then without hesitation, she’d put us to the ultimate test; she took our pulse to see if it was racing. And of course, it was, not only from the running but the lying! She was always too smart for us.

So there's a little taste of life as Tammisuh. Thanks for reading my memories!

2 comments:

Janet said...

I love it! I never knew that about your mom. Hilarious. Thanks Tammy Sue :)

Charity said...

love this tammy!!=) so fun. I started a blog a while back when I was travelling... mostly about my travels.. then it became about my brother, then wedding and honeymoon... havent blogged since then.. oops.... love yours.