When I was a kid I had a pair of underwear and a matching tank top that looked like Wonder Woman. I can’t say who gave it to me, or even if I knew who Wonder Woman was, but I do know that I liked the matching set. There’s probably a set of pictures that are floating around of my brother and me playing “swimming” and I’m in my undies, just enjoying life. As it should be, as a far as childhood goes.
Also, at my grandparent’s house there was a built-in bar that was probably fully stocked. Mostly just a bunch of bottles, fancy drink plastic stirring sticks, and salty nuts within reach of my grubby little hands. The bar was very-much a bar, but really the size of a closet and could easily go unnoticed if you didn’t know any better. It wasn’t until decades had rolled by that I actually wondered why my grandparents had built a bar into their home, especially when my grandmother hardly had a sip of a drink. Truth be told, my grandparents were skilled at hosting open houses, family events and having a bar, at the time they built their home, was pretty standard.
My grandpa, being a collector, over the years collected glasses with cartoon characters on them and these glasses lived in the bar, scattered near the salty nuts. Us grandkids would use the glasses from time to time, but they all stood the test of time and suddenly found us all in adulthood. Elmer Fudd, Bugs Bunny, Porky Pig, Spider Man, Batman, and Wonder Woman…and probably a few more. Last year, or maybe the year before, my grandpa filled a box of these glasses and had each of us pick out a glass. Barry picked Batman and I picked Wonder Woman.
For the most part, Wonder Woman has held a bunch of straws in our cupboard since coming home. When I’ve seen her in there, next to Batman, I’ve smiled and chuckled because it reminds me of my childhood undies and my grandparents….and their tiny bar full of old bottles and salty nuts. I still don’t really know who Wonder Woman is or what she does and we recently finished our fancy straws and so the Wonder Woman glass got put into the rotation.
Maggie was utterly fascinated by the glass. Staring intently at the tiny-waisted character, questioning her place in our home. I really didn’t have any answers, except for the general answers of maybe Wonder Woman being somebody that “takes care of business”, “saves people” or “wants to find the good in the world” and then I shared the story of where the glass came from and my childhood set of underwear. And then all of us girls are probably like Wonder Woman…..because we like to do those things too…..especially in our underwear.
