40 random memories

There has been a "25 random things" epidemic on Facebook, which I haven't done. But today Tammy and I are going back in time to reminisce. The goal is to list a memory from each year of life. We were supposed to ask relatives what they remember about us in childhood, but I have forgotten. So, here is what I can think up.

Anyone reading this is invited to comment here with memories you have of me. :-)

Age 0: We have a picture of me sitting in a bucket, carried by my dad. I got the nickname "Mouse" for being very quiet and watching everything with big eyes.

Age 1: Mom says I could sing before I could talk. I used to sing the tune that our clock chimed. According to her I used to cry to be let IN to the playpen. I probably was trying to have some peace and quiet away from my four older siblings!

Age 2: I had a stuffed rabbit that played a tune if you wound up the key - I used to carry it to my mom saying "wee-dee-op, wee-dee-op" (wind it up).

Age 3: I remember chasing my sister Rosie down the hall, and laughing at the way her ponytails bounced up and down as she ran.

Age 4: I hopped on the scale one day and announced, "I weigh thirty-two sweet pounds!"

Age 5: I got lost walking home after my first day of kindergarten. (I walked there with my older brothers and sisters; you'd think I would remember the way back, but I've always been directionally challenged.) I wandered the streets crying until my mom happened to drive up looking for me.

Age 6: First grade at Jessie Beck elementary school. The only grade of which I seem to have no traumatic memories. I loved my teacher, Mrs. Segerstrom, whom the boys called Mrs. Sexystrom.

Age 7: Second grade. My best friend Becky Cook and I got in trouble for twirling around with our jump ropes flying in a circle. We had to write "Jump ropes are for jumping" 100 times.

Age 8: Third grade. I pointed out to my teacher, in front of the whole class, that she had misspelled a word on the board. A girl named Kelly punched me in the stomach at recess and my friend Becky defended me by punching her back.

Age 9: I went backpacking with my dad and my brother Dan for 2 weeks in Glacier National Park. We had a blast. I embarrassed them profoundly when I read a brochure about bear safety in a restaurant and asked what menstruation was. (Really, the brochure mentioned something about bears and menstruating women, but I don't remember what.)

Age 10: Fifth grade. A boy named Kirk Wagner asked me if I wanted to "go steady." I did not know what that meant but I said yes. We did not interact at all after that.

Age 11: Took the train with mom and about 7 or 8 siblings (?) from Reno to Iowa, where my cousin Margaret was living. I remember a whole day - or two - of seeing nothing but cornfields.

Age 12: Each kid in our family got a "twelve year old trip." Dad took me and my sister Mary to the Oregon and Washington coast for camping and exploring the Olympia rainforest.

Age 13: Our 8th grade "Honor Society" took a field trip to Yosemite. Four boys decided to burn incense in their cabin and it went up in flames. The next night our social studies teacher got very drunk and invited my girl classmates to sit on his lap while he told stories.

Age 14: Ninth grade. I had a crush on Jason Marsh, the best violinist in the orchestra.

Age 15: Tenth grade. I thought I would try out for the Flag Team (my sister Suzie was on Drill Team and I thought she was fabulous). I discovered I was hopelessly incoordinated and gave up.

Age 16: Junior year. I won a trip to Germany by squeaking out the lowest possible qualifying score on the National German Test. My parents had to sign a form for me to go, but they were stuck in a snowstorm at Donner Pass. My brother Chip kindly forged their signature for me. I had the time of my life in Germany, drank beer, attended a German high school where I had no idea what was going on except in music class (we sang "Way Down Upon the Swanee River") and visited East Berlin when the wall was still there. I told my German hosts that their food was "nicht schlect" and they laughed and laughed.

Age 17: Senior year. Matt Jones became my first and only boyfriend in high school, and the first guy I ever kissed. He was especially cute when playing the cello. :-)

Age 18: Wheaton College. I left home with 2 suitcases, a trunk and a new typewriter.
Now that really shows my age!

Age 19: I was madly in love with Bryan and he did not know. The Wheaton Orchestra toured the west coast and

Age 20: Camping trip in the great Smokies with college friends. My friend Kim made me a birthday cake in a pot. Bryan and I connected!

I'm only halfway done? What a long life I have lived already!

Age 21: Went to Bolivia for a summer with South America Mission. Learned to sing several songs in Spanish, ate turtle and chicken hearts and part of a cow's udder.

Age 22: Married my best friend at my hometown church in Reno, NV. I really have very little memory of the whole wedding, except that our pastor did not read our vows the way we wanted them. I have lots of happy memories of our honeymoon in Vail and our drive across the country to Johnson City, Tennessee. At one point in Utah we hit a rabbit and only realized miles later (in Arches NP) that the rabbit was still with us, wrapped around the axle. :-( We also stayed up all night at Bryan's sister's house playing Speed Racer.

Age 23: I got a job in a futon store and also saw Bryan get baptized that year. All his life he thought he had been baptized as a baby, only to find out he hadn't. So he was baptized at Grace Community Bible Church in Johnson City, Tennessee.

Age 24: I worked full time (for $11,000 annually) as executive secretary for Rainbow Homes, Inc., a nonprofit providing housing for mentally ill adults. In my spare time I took pre-med classes, went rock climbing and caving, and tutored math students at East Tennessee State University in exchange for tuition. And played violin in the Johnson City Symphony. Oh, and did research on rat heart atrial cells.

Age 25: Said farewells to our beloved friends and one-bedroom apartment (with view of cornfield and cows for $195/month!) in Johnson City, and moved to Salt Lake. When we went to the post office to get a box, the guy behind the counter gave us a big grin and said, "Welcome to Zion!"

Age 26: Medical school. Bryan was in residency. I learned the difference between a "steakhouse" and a "stake house." It's a Utah thing. I took a job at the Utah Eye Bank, harvesting corneas from recently deceased people for transplants. I've been in almost every hospital mortuary in the Salt Lake valley.

Age 27: Med school, second year. I was not good at drawing blood. Otherwise, school was fine. I discovered Goblin Valley and the Courthouse Wash hike in Arches national park. We went camping with Pete and Grace and I left the back of their truck open in the rain, which caused their sleeping bags to get soaked. They left and went home early. Oops...I'm still very sorry about that.

Age 28: Third year med school. The hardest year - I thought about dropping out, but I already owed a lot of money. I learned to suture wounds, "drive" the camera inside of tummies for cholecystectomies, and staple scalp lacerations. I hated the feeling of being incompetent for every new rotation.

Age 29: Graduated from medical school. Not sure what years, but a couple of times we had friends come for trips to Lake Powell where we stayed on a houseboat. Those were really good times. Another time we went to Yellowstone with Kim and Mike Houghton. Between med school and residency, (or maybe this was before med school?)Bryan and I went to Yosemite with my dad and Becky Cook. We were going to backpack for a week. It was September and the first day, it snowed. We were FREEZING. The camping food (powdered spaghetti) gave us all the most amazing, disgusting gas which pretty much colored the air in the tent all night. The next day after hiking two hours in the snow we gave up and went home. The only wildlife we saw was a wolf, in the parking lot.

Age 30: The day I turned thirty, I tripped in our driveway and fell, tearing my good work pants and my rotator cuff.

Age 31: 2000, the new millenium. I was bummed at being stuck working in the hospital while my whole family partied at Tahoe for the New Year. I have no memory of what I was doing. Neurology residency had good moments, but mostly I did not enjoy it. I met a medical student who told me he was planning to go into Medical Informatics. I also met my friend Tammy about this time, and her husband was in the informatics program. I started checking into the fellowship.

Age 32: (not sure what year this really was) Went snowmobiling for the first time, and also snow camping. Climbed Mount Olympus and Mount Timpanogos. I love living in the mountains.

Age 33: I was SOOOOO happy to finish residency and start the informatics fellowship. I heard people complaining about having to come to class at 8 a.m., and just thought that was very funny.

Age 34: Bryan got pneumonia and was hospitalized for an entire week at Cottonwood Hospital. I was very happy for antibiotics and modern medicine. While he was sick it snowed a TON and I had to shovel our gravel driveway myself. Grump grump grump. His mom gave us an X-box though, so while Bryan recovered we got to play Gauntlet and Simpsons Road Rage.

Age 35: Finished my master's in Informatics and started working for the VA. My other full time job was doing adoption paperwork. At least 20 of my friends and family got pregnant and we couldn't. That sucked. In retrospect I realize I didn't have to wait overly long for Alex, but it seemed long enough at the time.

Age 36: Went to Korea and brought Alex home. It was total baby love, better than I had even dared to dream. I didn't even remember to eat for the first couple days. One day, I let Alex play with my car keys while I was loading groceries into the car and she locked me out of the car (in the snow). Luckily she unlocked it before I had to go call the police! We also went to my grandma's 100th birthday party that year.

Age 37: Sam joined our family and I was overjoyed to have both of my babies home. I feel so lucky!

Age 38: Christmas in Little Rock, Arkansas with Bryan's side of the family. We went to a Christmas Eve service at their church, but there was no nursery so Bryan and I spent it in the lobby of the church trying to keep the kids from pulling over the Christmas tree. It was still fun.

Age 39: Went to Madiera Beach, Florida for a week for work - and got the coldest weather of the winter - until the last day (today) when it was 64 degrees and sunny and beautiful! Walked the beach, soaked up the sun and thoroughly enjoyed my rare opportunity for solitude. I also discovered "winecream" - key lime ice cream made with savignon blanc (Cisa) and pina colada ice cream made with cavia, a sweet white with pineapple, banana, guava and mango.

What a life I have led! And I'm still only about halfway done!