My Story: Part 1 – Childhood

Part one in a six part series…

 

Let’s start at the very beginning, shall we?  The magic all began on a wintry election day in early November.  It was the 3^rd if I do recall correctly.  Year 1981.  This chubby baby girl was born weighing a whopping 11 lbs even.  Unfortunately, no records were broken.  That would have been cool, eh?

 

I was the third girl that came along in my family.  My sisters were almost 6 and  3 ½ when I was born.  Let me tell you something about third children, especially if they are all of the same sex.  They are not as important as the first two.  That’s just the way it is.  There is less available time for them.  There are less pictures taken.  To be honest, there are less hugs. 

 

We also didn’t have much money at the point where I came along.  I’m pretty sure my parents struggled to put food on the table and clothes on our backs.  But we never fully realized it at the time.  My dad says that’s exactly why we didn’t have money.  My parents tried to give us everything despite their limitations.  But there was stress, and they fought a lot. 

 

I’m not complaining with the previous two paragraphs.  I had a good childhood.  I’m just stating some facts to start you off. 

 

I had a bad thing happen to me when I was 2 years old.  I was in an accident that landed me in the hospital for a few months.  I still have the scars from that accident although I’ve learned to hide them pretty well.  The only people in my life that know about them are my family, my friends from grade school, and the guys I’ve dated.  And now you.  It’s really affected my life, especially when it comes to body image.  I’d love to be like Padma Lakshmi and flaunt the shit out of it, but I’m just not there yet (after 27 years). 

 

Onwards to better memories.  My sisters didn’t like that I was always tagging around with them.  But I had nowhere else to go.  Because we lived on a farm.  In the middle of nowhere.  Become my FB friend to see exactly what I’m talking about.  I couldn’t go to “town” very often because we lived so far out.  So my sisters were it.  Once, they locked me in my room so they could play Barbies without me.  Don’t think I’ve ever let them forget that.  For the most part though, we had a great time together.  We used to put old mattresses up against the walls in the basement.  Then we would put on our roller skates and slam into them.  Classic fun.  We also played softball a lot.  One time we couldn’t find a softball so we played with an orange.  That thing was a mess by the time we were done.  But it gave way to the creation of our joint imaginary friend named Juicy.  We blamed everything on her.  Then there were all the nights before Christmas when we would stay up talking in the room we all shared about whether or not we could hear the reindeer on the roof or if the Grinch would come.  They humored me a lot. 

 

 My very favorite memories are of Grandma’s house when we would play with the Cousins.  We would slide down the staircase on mattresses and land in a beanbag at the bottom.  We would jump on the beds until they broke.  We would play games where we jumped on each other between two mattresses (what was our deal with those things?).  Best of all, we put on a Christmas pageant every year for the grown-ups.  The Cosby Christmas was my personal favorite.  I got to play Rudy.  I almost left out all the climbing trees, playing with our many dogs and cats, going swimming in the pond, and riding bikes.  We had an awesomely fun childhood together. 

 

When I was 6 years old, I got a bit of a present in the form of my baby brother.  And for the next 20 years we fought with each other something terrible.  It used to be mandatory that someone had to sit between us wherever we were.  It’s laughable now because we finally get along so well.  So that’s when our family of 5 turned into the perfect number of 6.  We had one bathroom and three bedrooms.  Things were…interesting.

 

The best part though were the family vacations.  Every year we went to a lake up north in WI or MN to just swim, ski, fish, and relax.  Those are the very best moments of my entire life.  We were really a perfect family during those trips.  We played games, teased each other, laughed a lot, and made a lot of funny memories.  One day when I grow up, I want to own a cabin by the lake in MN.  It’s one of my favorite places on this planet.  Sorry, I feel like that was a tangent.

 

On we go.  I was in school by the time my brother came along and busy making lots of friends.  I adored school and had perfect attendance almost every year.  Yes, it’s true.  I was a big fat nerdy suck-up.  I was, however, following in my older sisters’ footsteps.  They set the bar high.  And me?  I unsurprisingly met everyone’s expectations.  There isn’t much fanfare when you are as smart as everyone thinks you are going to be.  My sisters were top of their class, which was awesome.  I was too, which was expected.  My sisters got crazy high ACT scores, which was worth celebrating.  I did too, which was expected.  My sisters went to great colleges and did very well, which was something to be proud of.  I did too, which was expected.  My sisters traveled abroad for a semester, which was unheard of in my family.  I did too, which was expected.  You get my point. 

 

I have classic middle child syndrome.  I’m quiet in a crowded room because that’s what I’m used to.  My dad made up a rule that we had to raise our hand at the dinner table if we wanted to talk.  That’s how chaotic it was in my house.  I don’t talk to my parents a lot about my achievements because I think they don’t matter.  (This, by the way, is wrong.  My parents profess to brag about me all the time now that I’m their only child making a good living on her own.)  I am independent to the extreme when it comes to my family because I don’t want to cause anyone worry.  I hide my feelings and emotions because no one ever had the patience to deal with them.  I was three out of four, and it shows.

 

I wanted so badly to be an only child when I was younger.  But now?  Now I wouldn’t trade my family for anything in the world.  My sisters are my BEST friends.  My brother is my partner in crime.  And my parents are the most giving, loving people that I know.  They may have all annoyed the crap out of my when I was in grade school, but they helped shape my life and who I am today.  I wouldn’t have changed one thing about my childhood except maybe the accident.

 

The way I was raised meant that I was on my way to becoming a spectacular teenager…