I saw this over on Daily Kvetch and decided to do it here too. It's fun...and, depending on how the last 20 years have gone for you, can be a bit depressing. Don't say I didn't warn you!
20 years ago I....
•Was beginning a summer that I remember as the summer my sister and I became friends rather than just siblings. She was just starting her job as an elementary teacher so we’d spend many days decorating her bulletin boards, and she had a horse, Chico, that she taught me how to saddle, ride, and take care of. We would both hop up on Chico and go riding through the farm fields. She also taught me how to drive stick shift that summer—in her brand-new car. I love her!
•Was just coming out of the Duran Duran phase and was deeply in love with Matthew Broderick after numerous viewings of Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.
•My favorite songs were “Take Me Home” by Phil Collins, “Cruel Summer” by Bananarama, and “Higher Love” by Steve Winwood.
•Was obsessing regularly with LilCherie about starting high school (our high school started at 10th grade) the next fall. LilCherie and I spent our time coercing a grown-up to take us to the movie theater, talking on the phone, and staying overnight at each other’s houses.
•Had my first dance with a boy, a skinny blonde geeky-looking guy, at the 4-H Fair.
10 years ago I….
•Was working at a small daily newspaper in Iowa and had a boss with terrible halitosis who sexually harassed all of his female employees. Later that year I moved back to work at a small—and I mean 1500 people small—weekly newspaper in Iowa that I had worked for before. Hated every minute of it, but I made a huge salary jump — from $15,000 to $19,000 a year! (Before taxes!!!!!)
•Had been married to J. for almost 3 years and had been with him for 9.
•I’ve blocked everything else from that time out, sorry!
5 years ago I….
•Was working at my current job, as an editor for a midwestern university.
•Was settling in to our first house, where we still live today.
•Had been trying to get pregnant for about two years.
•Was getting ready to have the first of four surgeries for a horrible, freaky abscess “down there.”
•Was helping J. tie up the loose ends on his parents’ estate (they both died during the same week in April 2000).
•Was alternately jealous and joyous about LilCherie’s pregnancy.
3 years ago I…
•Had my first artificial insemination.
•Got pregnant for the first time.
•Three years ago today, I was 21 weeks pregnant with our daughter and was looking forward to our ultrasound on June 9.
•Lost our daughter on June 9 due to an incompetent cervix.
•Met, but hadn’t yet talked to, my friend, ItchyTingle, on an Internet support group website.
•Saw a shamanistic healer.
One year ago I…
•Was busy taking care of our nine-month-old son.
•Was still in the midst of post-partum depression.
•Was planning our next trip to visit my friend Tingle.
•Was starting marriage counseling.
•Got my nose pierced.
So far this year I…
•Have seen our son take his first steps and start really communicating with words.
•Have started to enjoy being a mother (sometimes!)
•Am planning a Girl’s Weekend with LilCherie and Tingle for the end of this month.
•Have watched my oldest niece graduate from high school.
•Quit marriage counseling, considered divorce numerous times, reconciled numerous times, and am talking with J. about marriage counseling again.
Yesterday I…
•Went to work.
•Came home and had pizza with J., Bubba and my parents, who were out to watch Bubba after his recent accident (see next entry for that story).
•Watched Bubba make new faces that Nana taught him, including “angry” and “scared.” Got it on video too!
•Watched SpongeBob Squarepants (like every day!)
•Talked on the phone with LilCherie, Tingle and my sister.
•Worked on laundry.
•Watched part of a weird old movie from the 50s or 60s that was on a local channel about a woman who was only a head—somehow her body had been destroyed but her doctor/lover was keeping her head alive while he scouted out, lured and drugged a woman to use for her body. It was creepy, cheesy and weird, but I fell asleep before the end of it.
Today I….
•Gave Bubba a bath.
•Folded a load of laundry.
•Came to work.
•Had lunch at a really cool old saloon in the country with a coworker/friend of mine.
•Came back to work.
•Am blogging instead of working.
•Will visit LilCherie after work.
Tomorrow I will…
•See above—minus the fun stuff like the LilCherie part and the lunch at the cool old saloon part.
•Honor the memory of my daughter on the third anniversary of her birth and death.
•Write a letter to her in her “birthday” journal.
•Light her candle on our bookcase.
•Hug and kiss my son a little bit more than usual.
In the next year I will….
•Do what I have to and hopefully some of what I want to.
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3 comments:
Yours really shows a progression from happy to sad, but with some promises of happiness towards the end. If it is all right by you, I'd like to say the Hebrew prayer for the dead tomorrow for your daughter as a way of honoring her too.
Meredith,
I would be honored to have you say the prayer for our daughter. It warms my heart to know that someone I know "through the Internets" is so kind and thoughtful. Thank you.
This is such a neat idea - and what a life you have had in the last 20 years. More experiences (good and heartbreaking) than most people will ever had. I cherish all of your experiences because you are the "sum of your experiences" and each one has made you the person I love and admire.
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