Wednesday, July 20, 2011

28 years

So I have been reminded that Saturday I will turn another year older.

I started thinking....28 years. What have I accomplished in 28 years?

Learned how to walk, talk, feed and dress myself, and all that other basic stuff.

I have spent 21 years in school. Graduated with Academic Honors from high school, graduated on the Dean's list from college and currently maintain a 4.0 in grad studies. Big deal. All that tells you is that I am a DORK!

I have witnessed the effects of cancer and strokes on my grandparents. I have hid in the bathroom at a funeral and laughed at another. I have crowded around a cousin's car to listen to the end of the Purdue vs. Michigan State football game before officially saying goodbye to my grandfather.

I have coped with the loss of two classmates way to early in their lives.

I thought I found love, only to be dumped on my butt. The next week, I met my new boss and thought that my job was gonna suck. I didn't know that 2 months later I would be dating my boss and then end up married to him!

I have been fortunate enough to leave the country 3 times. The one time to Canada doesn't really count since we left the States just to say we left the States. I have toured the Netherlands, Germany, and Austria with a choir. I have fallen down numerous spiral staircases while in the Netherlands (seriously people, straight stairways work too!). I have sat on a beach in Spain and watched the sun come up. I have gotten buzzed in a Naval base bar while singing an annoying song about jumping. I have taken a boat ride hung over eating ice cream for breakfast before unknowingly watching the filming of a James Bond movie. I have ridden the moving sidewalks at the Miami Airport for 4 hours out of sheer boredom.

I lived through the divorce of my parents and the ending of childhood.

I have experienced a year at a Big Ten school and dealt with a roommate from hell, and survived!

I have been married for 6 years (been together 11), have two wonderful kids. I have given birth twice without any big pain meds. I have witnessed the joy/terror on my husbands face as he delivered our daughter. I have taught my son many cute habits and probably some that will end up getting him in trouble one day.

I have given blood only to then pass out in front of my students. I have been carried by my students (and football players) to a cot only to wake up utterly embarrassed!

I have witnessed the growing up of my three beautiful nieces. I have watched them take on personalities that are distinctly their own.

I have seen how a horrible accident can break you down, but build you up stronger than ever. I have witnessed family growing stronger through trying situations. I have prayed for a miracle and received it.

I have a job I love, despite how much I can complain about it. I have helped keep 120+ students out of juvenile placement, thus saving Steuben County roughly $1.28 million. I have worked through the suicide of a student and still miss her crazy sense of humor each fall when I see a pumpkin.

I have flown across the states to be with a friend and be "one of the guys" for the weekend. I have witnessed the beginning of two marriages (other than my own) from the front of the church. I have worn uncomfortable undergarments and shoes for the friends I love.

I have gone against what I knew would upset some people and did something solely for myself (my tattoo).

I have loved and lost. I have cried and I have laughed. I have been patient and I have been restless. I have run away and then came right back. I have done a lot, but mostly I have tried to live every day to the fullest.

I wonder what I will accomplish in my next 28 years?

No comments: