list 100 memories that are meaningful to me (happy or sad and anything outside and in between)

I can’t remember when this was. It was during my horse camp years, but I can’t remember which year it was before.

Mama and Padre had started to fight, and then they started crying and yelling. I learned after that it was because my dad was meeting someone else (a female, I don’t know what happened, but I was told she was someone he had met that was also very depressed, so who knows. I don’t want to).

The only part I remember really clearly was my mom yelling something and throwing her ring at my dad in their room, and running out crying. He looked so heartbroken as he picked it up. He put it on the nightstand by their bed.

Mom was crying in the sunroom, and both my brothers were in there with her. I got out my baby blanket and started crying in the room with her as Padre packed up some stuff. He went to a duplex my uncle owned (I think he had lived there earlier for a similar incident with mama, but I can’t remember). I remember I cried a lot because he didn’t bring the blanket that I had made him for christmas, and I thought that meant he didn’t want something that reminded him of me.

That was a really bad night. I’m pretty sure we didn’t go to school the next day. I don’t think we went the time when we were at the bonfire either, but I can’t remember. I only told Meem’s about it. I think that’s about the time I started to get good at putting on a facade at school.

I was actually talking to Fuzzy about this a year or so ago, and he’s surprised I can remember it. He hoped I was too young to remember it, because he remembers being really upset about it. Thankfully, they worked things out, but Padre did live away from us for quite a long time. I hate it, but I’m still a bit suspicious when he talks about women from work or whatever. I know I shouldn’t be, but remembering how mama looked and how she started to go through his emails when he moved back was too much.

4th or 5th grade, before school.

I was at my neighbor’s, as she babysat me before school every day. It had to have been 4th grade, because my neighbor’s daughter was there (she’s a year older). Murphy was also there. We were watching baby looney toons, like we always did.

It was right during the front of the war, and my cousin was on the front lines. My mom had told me that the night before and it took everything I had not to cry. When Murph said something about her uncle or something possibly having to go and fight, I just started wailing. I didn’t cry much as a child, but that’s one of the times when I did. They both started to cry too and it went on for at least five or ten minutes.

3rd grade, Mrs. Kress’ class. She wanted us to read a story out of the big book and then go up to her to get our assignment after. I finished it pretty fast (reading at a high speed was my only skill), and I went up to get the assignment. She wasn’t even done with the story yet, so she called me a liar and told me to actually sit down and read it.

I sat down, read it again (this time going faster because I had read it before and it was a lame story). Went back up, yelled at again. I then just sat down until a few other people had gone up. It made me so mad that she didn’t believe me; I never, ever lied when I was younger so I was like, whaaa? How am I lying?

Fuzzy has this exact same memory, just 4 years earlier- it’s scary how alike we are.

This was way back, maybe when I was like 7 or 8. We had just met Mr. Wofford, and the entire family brought him and his wife out to Old Country Buffet. As children, we didn’t really understand just how amazing he was for all his serving, but we knew he had incredible taste buds.

We would make icecream and put like everything in it, and have him try it. And every time, he could figure out exactly what was in it. Amazing!

Holiday Concerts, last year (this is like two memories).

Second holiday concert methinks, after school. There was just a… weird atmosphere. It was somber and dark, no one running around or playing cards or something. Everyone was on task and focused. Part of it was we knew Mr. V had a staph infection and everything. But when he talked to us before the concert, it was like dead silence. None of our usual antics. We listened, he kept saying how proud he was of us. It’s like he knew he was leaving.

Fast forward to the next day. Mr. V was gone. We thought he was hospitalized for the staph infection, but even then, he would have called the school to tell us that. Heck, he told us he would wheel himself on stage and conduct us if that happened. But Reed subbed for him in class, people were freaking out. Koss had to learn the guitar solo that V played, without music, the day of the concert.

I went to Kyles for a quick dinner, and like ran back to the school. There was about four or five kids there. There was no word from Mr. V, and none of the other teachers knew what was going on. We called his house, his cell; every number we could think of. People were going to skip and go to his house to see what was up. No answer any way we tried.

The concert was terrible; I know I spent most of the time talking to E and T-Mac when we weren’t playing. We didn’t really care about the concert then.

The school never ended up giving us a straight answer. We know, too well, what happened, but we still love and respect him. He is going to be idolized in this school from now on. Hopefully, one day in the future, we can meet with him again and tell him how much he has impacted and changed our lives. He was a great teacher, utterly dedicated to us. I hope he realizes that…

So, this was probably when I was in like 2nd grade, a year or two after gramps passed away. Our dog Skeeter had just gotten spayed, so she had stitches, and of course they forgot to give her a cone so she wouldn’t pick at them.

So, of course, she did. I was in the basement with Fuzzy, and I was watching him play Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask. He was at the very end when my mom just screamed for him to come upstairs, and I had to stay in the basement and not play. Skeeter had pulled out her stitches and her guts actually fell out onto the floor. My dad had been napping and had the pillow print on his face and no shirt on. He just grabbed the dog, held her so her stomach was up, and like threw everything back in.

Mama drove them to the pet hospital, where we had to pay for them to fix her up and put in more stitches, which is totally lame. Fuzzy had to clean the blood off the floor, and I was stuck in the basement, looking at the screen for that final level. I wasn’t allowed to play it because Fuzzy wanted to be the one to win (and as the older one of us, he could beat me up if I tried). But yeah, somehow Skeeter was perfectly fine after, but she hated the cone because it was too big, so she couldn’t reach her food. We had to pick up handfuls and have her eat that way.

Good times, good times…

[Why is it so hard to remember them when I’m by the computer, but they’re just there when I’m camping?]

Marching band, Defying Gravity season. Stoic was in the hospital for her eating disorder, so Beedums and I went to visit her. We got her like some knee high socks that matched ours, and like 10 dollars in dimes. It was really awkward before we saw her, as hospitals just aren’t my thing.

But when we got to her floor, it was just scary. Just everyone with sunken cheeks, just looking totally dead. She was as full of spunk as she usually is, even with her leg brace on (as she fractured it earlier, but that’s another story). We hung out with her for like 15 minutes, and I think she really appreciated it. We also told her that both Eric’s might call her and she was just so happy.

It’s a shame she has such problems, even now. I’m just terrified because she’s in college and no one can monitor her eating habits. D=

Drumline, Shift season, at finals. We knew we messed up the performance, and just the energy that usually is there just felt like it was gone, even though it was an amazing place to perform. Before awards, all the lines were just walking back and forth by the food stands, just high fiving each other. I got stuck in the back by LJ, and we were having a blast doing that.

Anyway, when we went down the steps to the court (after LJ and I were late because we were high fiving still), it was pretty tense once they started announcing for our class. We had been undefeated the entire year, so it wasn’t until they got to the top three when we started to get nervous. It was just terrifying, and when Buffalo was announced for 2nd, I was so, so happy. It turns out we only won by less than a point, and just hearing the score for us was just a constant reminder that we didn’t do as well as we usually did (as it was like 3 points less than our last few shows). Just taught us to always, always give our best because you never know when that one mistake, that tenth of a point, is the difference between second and an undefeated season.

Sectional at Eric E’s house two years ago, my freshman year. We did our usual not playing trumpet at all, and it was fantastic. After playing Wii, we progressed to a water fight outside where Steffy bit Friend’s arm and gave him a scar that would last for a year. After getting popsicles and such, we called Sims about coming over to “help” us out, when in reality we were just going to bomb her with water ballons.

Well, when she came, she was standing outside of her brand new car, talking to us. E took that exact moment to throw a water balloon at her. It bounced off her, bounced off the rear-view mirror, and exploded inside the car on her dash. He turned around and ran, while Eric just laughed and laughed. She stormed away, and wouldn’t talk to us at the next rehearsal. It was so great.

So this was last year, 2008, on August 5th. Beedum and Stoic were with me, as we were bringing instructor Eric out for his birthday. Beedums and I went antiquing for his presents and had those all wrapped up. Us females met at Khan’s and got the table. The waiter seemed to be flirting with us, probably because he thought another female would be joining us (as we said we were waiting for someone).

Then, of course, Eric walks in. This 6’2” man that was in his late twenties comes sits next to us high school aged girls. The waiter was so surprised when that happened, and kept like coming over to our table and listening to the conversation. That part was awkward, but it was a lovely meal and it was great getting to know Eric more.