Emily in the 1980s
from David Schrag
My parents were not prudes by any means, and I
remember learning the facts of life at an early age. So I was very surprised
when my high school biology teacher told me I had been excused from the sex-education
portion of the curriculum at my mother's request. I was terribly
embarrassed, and I asked my mother why she had done such a thing. As it
turned out, my mother had no objection to my learning about sex in school.
Her objection was to the curriculum — in particular, the fact that the first
topic covered was sexually-transmitted disease. Mom abhorred the idea that any
child's introduction to sexuality would start with such a downer.
from Beth Ungar
"Will you come with me for my breast biopsy," Emily asked, "I'd like company, and I need someone to drive me home after." So we went. Emily was anxious and nervous, resolute and stoic. "Bring a book," she had said, "to read, you know, while I'm having it done." I sat in the waiting room trying to read. And then Emily was back. "It's over, and I'm hungry, nothing to eat before," she said, "let's eat." And so we sat in that dim-lit waiting room, and laughed with relief, and talked, and ate the most glorious picnic lunch, which Emily had thought to prepare.
The Schrags' first home in Washington was on Jenifer Street (NP_01, Emily at home on 27 November 1980), but they moved to Ingomar Street within a year or two, to the house in which Emily lived for the rest of her life. She celebrated her 40th birthday there (XF_10, with Zach and Philip), and then she remained there with her sons when her marriage foundered a year or two later. The happier milestones of the decade were the high-school graduations of David (NZ_20, 7 June 1985) and Zach (TH_01, June 1988), and, of course, Emily's marriage to me on 3 March 1989. For the rest of her life, whenever Emily needed a 4-digit code for a combination lock or the like, she chose 3-3-89.
NP_01 XF_10 NZ_20 TH_01
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Page revised: 11/29/2010 21:54