A Look Back

Thank god – or more appropriately, thank Stennie! It’s another MEME! I love MEMEs. They are the lazy and blocked writer’s answer to blogging. Except this one is HARD. It asks you about your life up to 30 years ago. This is going to be tough: I mean, a therapist would pay his or her weight in gold for the challenge of getting this stuff out of me. But anyhow, here it goes:

Thirty Years Ago - 1975: I was six and living for my last year on Long Island in New York. I had a very trashy accent, that in two years’ time, I would enroll myself in speech therapy to expunge. I was a big fan of the Letter People, The Magic Garden, Underdog, the New Zoo Revue, the Electric Company and yes, still Mr. Rogers. I was in first grade. I remember trying to learn to turn cartwheels in the side yard – my teacher was probably Gina. Now Gina was role model. An Italian girl who was a full year older, very mature, and very wise. She taught me how to waive just using my chin. I still do that. I wonder what ever happened to Gina?

Twenty-Five Years Ago - 1980: I was living in the north western suburbs of Chicago with the entire family.. I had just begun the misery that was my first year at MacArthur Jr. High. I was moody, I was wildly unpopular, and I was rapidly and willfully failing all of my classes except Communication Skills. This year saw me called to the principal’s office more times than I could count. This was mostly because of my grades (I know you aren’t stupid. Nobody gets 3 D’s 2 Fs and an A+!), and because I was unable to remain quiet for more than three seconds. This is the year I met my arch nemesis, Mr. Melius. Because of that horrible grasshopper of a man, I learned to write sentences on thin-lined paper using three pens in one hand. This is also the year that another wildly unpopular creature in the 8^th grade took a liking to me, and although I rebuffed his adolescent advances, my already sketchy reputation was ruined.

Twenty Years Ago - 1985: The year started off spectacularly. I was a sophomore in high school and loving it. I was doing well in all of my classes, and enjoyed most of them. I had mild popularity, went on dates, and had fantastically feathered hair. My expectations for the future involved snaring either Adam Ant or Paul McCartney. I had one more year until driver’s ed, and I had just discovered Squeeze. I spent the summer of this year living with the “charismatic Christian” side of my family in Tennessee, who forced me to go to church and bible study several times a week. They spoke in tongues, worried sincerely about my wretched, heathen soul, and forced me to listen to Amy Grant instead of watching Live Aid on TV. At the end of August, just before I stared my Junior year, my father died suddenly at the age of 46.

Fifteen Years Ago - 1990: This was a very wonderful year. I was living in Tübingen Germany and had just seen the Berlin wall tumble before my very eyes (ok, on TV…) and started my love affair with the Netherlands. On my way there with my friend Julie, we interrupted our 16-hour train ride and stopped in Berlin to see the Concert at the Wall. We were 8 miles from the stage, but it didn’t matter. I was taking classes at the University, lost as all hell in all of my classes except “German Language for Foreigners,” which met an unprecedented 10 hours a week. I studied like crazy in that class, hoping beyond all reasonable measure that it would help me to understand all of my other classes, which were, surprisingly enough, all in German. I learned to like beer, and found two German residents of my dorm who would not only help me with my homework, but who scooped me up in their Citroën Ente with the paisley interior and drove me to Strasbourg for lunch on a semi-regular basis.

Ten Years Ago - 1995: This year was hands down, the best year of my life. I cannot imagine that it will ever get better. In fact, everything has pretty much gone downhill from there. I working on my Master’s at the University of Salzburg in Austria, met a lot of wonderful people, most of whom are all still in my life, albeit from a great distance, today. I worked hard, played harder, and somehow almost never slept and didn’t die. I learned to appreciate classical music, Bulgarians, and good wine.

Five Years Ago - 2000: My mother died five days before this year began, so the first several months of it are a complete blur. I spent much of the year sorting through her affairs. I was working for a wonderful company in Chicago. In my job I was required to use every inch of my language skills. I was miserable though, because the company was unfortunately managed by a despicable, pocket-pool playing excuse for a man. On a more positive note, this was the year I replaced my 386 PS2 with a real computer, and got internet access at home. On the day after I got the computer, I went to #squeeze for the first time, after having been on the mailing list for several years.

One Year Ago - 2004: Life was pretty much then as it is now, working for another company in Chicago, but less miserable. I visited Puerto Rico for the first time and learned to kayak. The condo got broken into and I turned it into Fort Knox. I entered middle-age with a thud, and got a full-on mouth kiss from Glenn Tilbrook the day before my birthday to ease the pain. I went to more weddings than I care to mention, and several of my friends left Chicago.

And that's my look back. If you didn't notice that Stennie tagged you, consider yourself tagged by me.