In my room. Senior year at Moore College of Art and Design. Having my best friend and her husband over for dinner. The dinner I cooked in my room at twenty years of age. My best dinner was: canned green beans, noodles, ground beef and canned stewed tomatoes all mixed together. Fruit salad. Accompanied by a drink of homemade kaluah and ice cream, which was called a Polar Bear because of the color white the drink turned when I added ice-cream to the already vodka soaked liqueur. I was certain this dinner was a winner. Also my everyday ( even for special occasions ) outfit was Army Navy bells with an Army Navy turtleneck sweater. That was it. In my youth, what I didn’t know was vast. I wish I were that naive and at the same time, so certain of things as I was then.
As art students, we carried our cameras everywhere. But we only took B and W’s which we would develop and print later. If there was dust on the enlarger ( as is in this print ), we would hit it with the correct shade of spot tone. ( I had no patience with that. ) There are no photos of my best friend and her husband at this dinner. However she insisted that her late husband’s FAVORITE dinner was that canned green bean concoction.
Sadly, my best friend and I lost touch. I don’t make kaluah anymore. And I don’t do that electric fry pan green bean thing anymore either. I have grown more food-sophisticated, more clothing aware, but I have to say, nothing in the world can come close to the bursting enthusiasm of being twenty and the ever-expanding years of possibility and adventure ahead. The Army Navy sweater and pants combo, not bad either. That, I would wear today.
Hollis Hildebrand-Mills 
What a great trip down memory lane, Hollis. The photo of you is beautiful!
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Yes, Jill. I have been rummaging around my old sketchbooks and I came up with that photo. then like a filing system, I remembered that dinner and those times. fun!
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We were lucky to come of age in some great times! Bet we would have been friends then too!
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Without a doubt, Marjie. We still can’t get to the photos scrunched in boxes in the unfinished part of our basement. I have one of you and Ed. Yes, we would have been friends then too.
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Black and whites are the best. And a navy ensemble- can’t go wrong. Also very art student. Fashion designer Jean Muir only ever wears navy. She came of age around that time. So much creativity. So many possibilities. Better then than now…😉
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Yes, my Army Navy turtlenecks were in black, navy and purple (my breakout color). I think the bell bottoms were navy striped. Jeans were bought at that store too. We took our cues from England. You were much more hip than us over here in America. BTW, WP auto corrected my word color to “colour.” Interesting.
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I need to correct myself. You were much more hip than WE WERE over here in America. The grammar over here in the media has gotten atrocious, and I feel it will evolve to be the norm, sadly.
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Love this walk down memory lane with you. Wish we had known each other back then.
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Lorraine, being from Philly together is not our only link. I do think we would have been friends then. In fact, we would have had a lot of fun!
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I have mixed feelings about the decisions I made at twenty. My creativity was at an exciting place but personal life, and love, were abysmal. I knew little about love except that it changed me, changed my relationship with friends, and with my family. I feel the weight of those people who are no longer in my life, and love that this forum has allowed me to reconnect with you, Hollis, and others. Laughter, looking back, and reacquainting has allowed me to to look at the road not taken and know again that the road taken was where I was supposed to be. I loved those Moore years, with their risks, friendships and lovers. I too have recently looked at the B&W photos, and the sketchbooks. Treasures from another time.
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Donna, thank you for commenting. “I would not be convicted by a jury of my peers…” comes to mind, thanks to Paul Simon. You express yourself brilliantly here and it touches that time in a way not many people can do. I value the fact that we got back in touch also. As those years seem more precious to me now, with wisdom and distance.
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Oh, Donna one more thing: yes, struggles and all, the road each of us took was the one we were supposed to have taken. I would not have changed a thing.
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