Wonder Years

When the kids saw these pictures, the first thing out of Jared's mouth was "woah, those were the wonder years."  Woah, like I wonder what it was like to live so long ago, is what I'm thinking he meant by that.  The kids didn't know who the girl was in the pictures.  After I told them, Ethan grabbed my face and looked real close at me to see if I resembled the picture.  I don't think he is still completely convinced.  

What I like about this first set of pictures is that it accurately captures a day in the life of me and my 2 younger brothers.   All we did was use our imaginations.  My mom even had an old video camera that she let us use and we filmed ourselves doing silly things all the time.  One of our favorites was pretending we had a late night talk show.  We also loved to play with the answering machine leaving all kinds of crazy things on it.  As you can see by the pictures, I was also the costume designer.  

One of the other things I learned was that if I wanted my brothers to play with me, I was going to have to get creative.  How do you get your brothers to play cabbage patch dolls with you?  Have them use their building set to make band equipment.  Look at how awesome that set is.  It's got speakers, microphones, a drum set and 2 guitars!  

 This next set of pictures is of a trip that I took to PA all by myself to see my Nana.   I was 12 years old.  It is a trip my Nana and I planned for a couple of years.  The age was set when such a travel could be made by me alone and my Nana could save up some money.  

My Nana was my world and my idol and I loved her so much.  We had 1 glorious week before she died.  It's not something that I talk about and only a very small number of people know the story of what happened, but I am forever grateful that I was given 1 week with her and I had God by my side to get me through the tragedy alone.  

 Across town lived my Great Nan and Great Aunt Barbara whom I loved dearly as well.  My great Nan is the one I wrote about awhile back with all of the sayings.  BTW, I'm pretty sure my mom made that dress that I'm wearing - maybe even specially for the trip.  I'm also rockin the feathered hair with the big  'ole glasses.  

The next set of pictures is the apartment my Nana lived in and where I spent the last week of her life with her.  

 I made the decision to finish my summer in PA with my great Nan and Aunt Barbara.  My Dad flew out for the funeral and we did a little sight seeing while he was there.  I am wearing the shirt my dad made for me.

This particular time period in my life was especially painful.  I had recently gotten glasses and when I did, the buck teeth that I had been hiding suddenly became visible.  All the friends that I had, turned out to be the "popular" kids when we got onto middle/ high school and they ditched me.  It's funny how a little pair of glasses can bring to light all the other things going against you.  We were also poor and had the water and electricity shut off often, so suddenly where I lived and how I lived set me apart as well.  My parents were constantly fighting and separating which was taking it's toll.  Then I had a chance to escape to somewhere no one knew who I was to spend a whole summer with my idol and it was cut very short.  

The good news is, that girl survived!  Not only did I endure, but I endured it well and continue to do so today.  Even in your darkest hours, you are never alone!