Brainstorming my Digital Story

1.   Describe a positive scene from childhood in detail. What led up to this event? When and where did it happen? Who was involved? What were you thinking and feeling? Why is it an important event? What impact did it have on you?

In 1992, when I was in 2nd grade my family and I were living the normal suburban lifestyle in the growing city of Richmond Virginia.  My twin sister Emily, my big brother Tyler and I were all attending public school, riding the bus home to our lovely brick house filled neighborhood, but we were different.  The hustle of the city and the normal standards of the Pickett fence life weren’t enough for my free-spirited and adventurous parents.  So we sold our big house, packed all of our worldly possessions into a storage unit, and we drove south to Tampa Bay and bought “The Rooster” – a 30-foot sloop sailboat and my parents learned to sail in Tampa Bay in the Gulf of Mexico.  When my parents found there sea legs, we journeyed East across Florida on the Okeechobee waterway and proceeded North up the intercostal waterway.  My mother home-schooled us as we traveled and experienced wonders unseen by children stuck in a classroom. 

My father had been laid off from working at General Electric, so it seemed like the perfect opportunity for my parents to live out a dream of theirs.  My mom had grown a successful nanny training business and decided to sell up and use that seed money to buy the boat. 

This journey lasted for 6 months until my mother decided she wanted a home base on land, so we began looking for property while living with my Grandparents in Northern Virginia.  We eventually found and settled in WV where my parents bought a little farmhouse in the hills of Slanesville. 

I felt very lucky to have been given such a rare opportunity to spend such quality time with my family and our beloved dog Toby.  We had a closeness that is rare in families anymore, which is sad.  We played games, helped each other prepare meals, make crafts, we read stories aloud to each other, made art, wrote poetry, such richness of experience seldom seen in young years. 

I loved the colors of the water, the flow of the waves, the tilts of the sail, it was an explosion of color and adventure filled with wonder and adventure, stuff kids dream about in their backyards up in their tree forts.  I lived it!  It is the only time in my life that I was naturally sun-tanned and had bleach blonde hair from the constant exposure to sun on the water.  It was bliss! 

It is an important event because it shaped my creative and adventurous spirit.  It taught me to be brave and independent.  It taught me not to conform to societal norms and traditions if I wanted to be different.

2.   Describe a negative scene from childhood in detail. What led up to this event? When and where did it happen? Who was involved? What were you thinking and feeling? Why is it an important event? What impact did it have on you?

A negative memory from my childhood is when my father was badly struggling with alcoholism.  He was addicted and it was intense for my family.  I believe many things lead up to his addiction, but most stemming from his childhood of feeling inadequate compared to his Naval Academy Graduate older brother who overshadowed my father at every turn.  I think the past years of inadequacies and neglect led to him taking up drink to forget his woes and shortcomings of never measuring up in his parents eyes.  This event occurred off and on throughout my childhood, but it was much worse in our early years living in WV in the seclusion and quiet of the mountains.  My parents often fought about this subject and it led to my mother in tears and my siblings and I comforting her.  I felt disgusted that my father seemed so feeble and weak.  I thought he should man up and take care of us instead of being a coward and hiding behind his alcohol to forget.  It made me furious that he would drink and waste some of his life away and some of our precious years as kids and as a full family.  He missed out on so much due to his decision to drink.  We didn’t want to be around him and I think this fueled his addiction at times.  It is an important event because it showed me what I didn’t want to be, someone who lets their feelings and the past get the better of them.  It taught me not to be someone who isn’t strong enough to change for the better to enrich the lives of people around them.  It taught me to be strong in my convictions and to be a better person.  It shaped who I am today.    

3.   Describe a particular event from your teen-aged years that stands out in your memory today. This can be positive or negative. What led up to the event? What happened? Where and when? Who was involved? What were you thinking and feeling? Why is it an important event? What impact did the event have on you.

My parents fostered children when I was in middle and high school, this lead to my parents adopting 2 additional children into my family.  My baby brother Brandon, who is now in 9^th grade and Courtney, now in 6^th.  Both children have been in my family since they were very young.  Fostering children and sharing my family’s time and finances was a learning an adjustment.  We had never been wealthy, but having additional mouths to feed always complicates matters to a degree.  I have always loved kids, and having a twin sister helped me learn to be great at sharing.  I grew to become a leader, babysitter, friend and role model for my much younger siblings.  They are every bit of blood to me as my real, biological siblings.  I found that I was good with kids, I enjoyed being a mentor and spending time helping them grow and feel protected.  Even now, I continue fostering my positive relationships with them when they stay with me over summer break and holidays off school.  We have kept up this bond and closeness and I thank god everyday for bringing them into my life.  They helped piece together my family after some hard times (as mentioned in answer #2 above).  My biological siblings always felt threatened by the adopted ones, like they were taking something away from us by being in our lives.  I always looked at what they gave us, and continue to contribute.  I never saw them as a burden, but a huge and much needed blessing.  This mentorship lead me to my career in teaching and continuing to help shape lives of children in positive ways.  My need of giving second chances and helping kids see the potential in themselves. 

4.   Describe a vivid or important memory from any time in your adult years. Again, this can be positive or negative. It can be about anything – family, work, whatever. The scene stands out in your mind today as being especially vivid or important. Please describe what led up to the event. Then describe the scene in detail. What happened? Where and when? Who was involved? What were you thinking and feeling? Why is it an important event? What impact has the event had on you?

I had just finished my first full-time year of teaching in Hampshire County.  My first legit Art Teaching post successfully completed.  I had lived long-distance from my long-time boyfriend, and recent fiancé.  His job kept him in Fairmont.  He is a Web-Developer at Fairmont State and in his dream job!  I wanted to gain experience, so moved back to my hometown to gain some.  I lived in a small house with another young teacher who also worked at Romney Middle School, where I was employed.  I was happy in my job, loved my art room at the school, enjoyed my coworkers and living near my family, but the biggest strain was living away from my love.  We are two year apart in school, so spent 2 years of college long-distance, plus this year of teaching, so it was enough.  We were beginning to think about building a life for ourselves together and I had a big decision to make.  Resign from my job and leave what I had built behind or stick it out for more experience and a steady income.  We began looking at houses that summer, which made my decision easier.  We found the house of my dreams and I couldn’t visualize my career experience being worth it to sacrifice my life with Kevin and the house we had successfully bought together.  I made the tough decision and resigned from my job in Hampshire County and moved into my new house with the love of my life.  Nothing could have been a better decision than to go where my heart was, where the rest of my life was waiting for me all wrapped up in the perfect white pickett-fence package.  I made the move and never looked back.  It was a difficult decision, but it taught me that my instincts are always reliable and on target with the deep-seeded desires of my heart.  It taught me what truly matters and to have faith in what can’t be controlled.  I ended up getting full-time work as a substitute for that next school year, which provided us with plenty of extra income we needed to help support our life in our new home.  It gave me evenings free from grading to plan our wedding, which was scheduled for the following summer.  It lead to me fostering positive relationships with teachers across the North central WV counties I Subbed in.  It led to me eventually landing a full time teaching job locally in Morgantown, which is where I have been ever since. 

At the time of my decision, I was a whirlwind of emotions.  It was hard to leave everything I had built behind.  It was tough to give up a job of steady income and benefits to no guaranteed work and no benefits at all.  The leap was a big one for me at the time, but it was an important event in my adult life because it refocused my attention on the lasting importance of life itself.  To seek happiness, enrich your life and the lives of people around you, and to take risks for yourself, because you are worth it and happiness is worth fighting for.  Not staying somewhere because it is safe and comfortable or familiar, but to be bold and drastic when the time is right and to learn that the all mighty dollar isn’t anything if you aren’t happy or if you have to sacrifice a part of yourself for it.  These lessons are steppingstones and important ones for building character and strong relationships.  I know it was the right choice and I will never regret following my heart. 

5.   In looking back on your life, you may be able to identify particular “turning points” – episodes through which you experienced an important change in your life. Please choose one key turning point scene and describe it in detail. If you feel your life story contains no clear turning points, then describe a particular episode in your life that comes closer than any other to qualifying for a turning point – a scene where you changed in some way. Again, please describe what led up to the event, what happened in the event, where and when it happened, who was involved, what you were thinking and feeling, and so on. Also, please tell me how you think you changed as a result of this event and why you consider this event to be an important scene in your life story today.

My answer to this question is largely in the response to the question #4 above, but I have another example. 

My Grandfather was 96 this past Christmas and was growing more fragile and weak for the past several months following a series of debilitating strokes.  He was my special guy, my best friend and my favorite person in the whole wide world.  He was a HUGE influencer in my life, all positive experiences to boot!  He was my superhero!  It wasn’t convenient, but I decided to fly to San Diego California to visit him for Christmas.  I had been grappling with if I should go or not for a while prior to making the decision to, but finally decided it was the better choice.  We are never guaranteed time on this earth and best snatch up as much time as you can with the people you care about most.  I flew over in the busiest travel season of the year and grappled with lines and traffic, but he was worth every second, always.  He never disappointed.  One smile from that big bear of a man sent me into a million pieces every time.  He melted my heart.  He was over 6 feet tall, fairly broad shouldered, but tender as can be and very sweet natured and calm. 

I sacrificed my first Christmas with my husband (we had gotten married in June) to visit Gramps.  Kevin couldn’t come with me because he had commitments at work.  He was very supportive though, as we have been together forever and he understood how important my Grandpa was to me.  So I spent a week with my Grandfather and enjoyed his smiles, laughs, hugs and kisses over the Christmas holiday.  This was my last moments with him.  The last time I felt his powerful hug with his long, strong arms, the last kiss of his sweet lips on my cheek, he called them “butzers.”  My last moments with this treasure of all treasures.  Nothing could have compared to this, these last moments!  I didn’t know it at the time, but he would pass away 3 months later during the night, so this trip would be my last with him to share in the holidays and in the joys of this life. 

I got a call in the middle of the night.  I thought my dumb party-boy cousin was drunk dialing me at 2 in the morning when I received the call.  The tension was palpable through the wireless phone signal.  I was half asleep but I knew something was wrong.  My Grandpa would never give me a warm, strong hug again, I would never breathe him in and feel as safe as I did when I was a child.  I couldn’t hear his voice and touch him.  Pieces of me shattered inside as I clenched the cellphone and screamed from within.  No sound audible to my sleeping husband.  I changed in that moment, I lost my special guy.  A part of you is never the same and I hope other people in this class have felt this kind of love and admiration.  If you haven’t I hope you do  soon because it is a very special relationship that no one should be without.  I would have done anything in that moment to hear his voice again and see and touch him.  This is why is it so important to not forgo chances to see those you love because of weak excuses like I can’t afford to, I can’t take the days off, this, that, something else.  Unfortunately we find reasons in life to not do things or seek out and spend time with our loved ones and we end up with regret. 

I went and saw him when my gut told me to because it felt right in my heart, and as I said earlier, my heart knows best and it was the right choice.  I was the last one in my family (from the east coast) to see my Grandfather and all of them had equal opportunities to take the time but they didn’t.  They made excuses as to why they could and it didn’t happen. 

I miss my Grandfather to pieces but I know in my heart I did what I could and I was there to say my goodbyes.  Not in the end but close enough to the time so he knew how much he meant to me.  He knew how special he was to me and that I loved him to the moon and back.  Our bond will not be broken by death.  I will see him again one day and will feel his warm hugs and sweet, soft butzers.  The sweet man I was honored to call my superhero!

This was an important event, because I had never experienced such a significant loss until this point, but my other details above further illustrate the impact of decision-making and life priorities and perspective.  You learn and grow from each experience of your life, good or bad, and this experience describes somewhat of a turning point in my adult life because I continue to make relationships a priority, I continue to have a wider perspective than just the shortsighted here and now.  I think of the bigger picture of life and happiness and contentment is all tied to our decisions and what we choose to act upon.  These experiences teach me to continue to cherish those I love and to preserve lasting relationships because these relationships are the lifeblood of happiness.  The reason we are all on earth.  I believe I am ranting at this point and starting to lose focus.  I think I have made my point clear.  At least I hope.  Thanks for reading!