February 13, 2013

• 17 & I or Then & Now

  17 what, you ask?  17 whole years old.  I've been assigned the age of 17 so I'll try and dust the cobwebs off my memory and relive here...no wait a minute, I'll highlight the me that was 17 many many many many years ago.

  Can you tell I'm stalling?

  

  Where I lived: I lived in Pleasant Hill, Ca. It's east of San Francisco.  I lived there with My parents and 4 older sisters, all of whom started exiting when I was a teenager (no edits from family please) (I mean it!) so I had several bedrooms over the years. Sort of trading up I suppose.  I moved to the coast that summer after I graduated from high school.

  What I drove: Well let's see I started the year in a Chevy truck. The one I drove was blue.  My father had bought it when he got a cab over camper with it and we'd gone to Yosemite the summer before my senior year.  Mom's idea.  My dad took the camper off when he realized that we only used it for that one trip and I think my sister and I filled it with a few friends one time for a crazy trip to the mountains, but after that the truck was for getting around town. I'd take dad to work then off to school, then later pick dad up. I loved that truck!   This was when you could load up all your friends in the back...we had a blast!

  

  Then I got a VW Fastback right before I moved to the coast. Loved that car. Called it the Orange Splat!

  

  What I did: Let's see...I was attending College Park High School in Pleasant Hill, Ca.  I was a senior, singing in Concert Choir, pretending that I liked school, was a homecoming queen candidate from Concert Choir (did not get the crown) but had fun in the dress. I had completed many of my credits for graduation so I enrolled in the outside work experience program and only had school for half a day, then went to my job in children's shoe sales at the local mall. Leeds Shoes.  Loved doing the shoe displays in the huge window of the shop. At the time some of the families of the guys who played for the Oakland Athletics or A's lived in Pleasant Hill, so they'd come in with their kids. Working with children shoes was strange and wonderful. Some times their feet would smell and I'd try not to tear up as I held my breath and offer a clean sock to try the shoe.  I was pelted with popcorn and had ice cream dropped on my head. The moms and dads would always apologize as they laughed.  I soon made friends with the bookkeeper who recommended me for her job when she gave notice so I  became the payroll gal and was very popular with the staff. Everyone loved me on payday.

  Who Had My Heart: My heart got around a bit, but hey, I was 17. I was in lust with a mountain climber named Ken Jones. Met him in Yosemite on that trip in the camper. We wrote to each other as he lived in LA and I was in the bay area. He loved me and I didn't know what love was yet. Then Peter Hershelman got a hold of my heart. He was older than me by a year, and soon he went away to be a pilot. He did send me a letter asking me to come join him, but I wasn't ready for that either.  I actually met The King, my husband when I was 17. I had dreamed him, so when I saw him at a party I was shocked to see my dream standing in the kitchen.  The rest is history or a book. (smiles at The King as he looks rather suspiciously at me from the couch) Whahahaha cough cough.

  What I do: I live in the middle of each moment as much as I can.  Where I am is where I want to be or you won't see me there. I'll be the one who'll help you put the kitchen back in order over fabulous conversation, help you move out of a seven bedroom home and not need therapy, laugh my head off at the silliest things, make up a song to express a feeling, dance across a room to my telephone ring tone so I can go outside to talk. I love my family with all my heart. Three children that have come with their own set of lessons to learn. The King and I believe we are assigned as their guides. We parent pretty well.  I sing with my trio ~ Side Effects ~, I love to create and express myself in the garden, on paper, with art, in conversation, through harmony. I have found that from 17 to 53 is a small window that's full of shiny panes and in each experience it brought me closer to me. Learning isn't a chore when it's about yourself. I ask myself and others (brave friends like you) to let life show us the way. Question your actions, ask yourself the hard questions, cry in the shower then get out there and SHINE! That's what I do.

  Who Has My Heart: He got it years ago when I dreamed him. We've grown up together and at times we've struggled to hold on together.  We've woken up from shared dreams, he's been there at all three of the baby births, right there telling me to go to my source, he can be moved to tears, we love baseball, music and art. He loves my garden. HE COOKS! HE COOKS! HE COOKS! VERY WELL!  I Love you BABE! He won't let me post his face, so...

   

   Thanks for the trip down "17 mile running from life only to find it along the way" memories @saintvi

  

  (pats heart, and points to you)

   

  • 1:06 pm
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