Thursday, June 21, 2012

I have a great memory. Maybe a little freaky at all of the things I remember growing up. Now after going on 12 years of marriage, 3 kids, and something in the health world called Fibro Fog, my short-term memory may be lacking, but my long-term memory is going strong. There have been many times in my life where I was asked to state certain facts and so forth and I always get the same reaction, "How did you remember all of that?" When somebody asks me that I say four words: Kelly Douglas, Mega Memory. I get a chuckle but the truth is my dad made me listen to the Mega Memory course on tape one time in the car. The funny thing about this story is that I cannot for the life of me remember where we were going(HA)! Every time I come home I become very nostaligic. This house has been my home from the day I was brought home from the hospital until the day I stood holding my Mickey Mouse phone in front of our van loaded with my personal belongings heading to Nashville, TN to attend college. This house has been a part of every stage of my life so when I come home the memories flow. This time coming home I think I have been much more reflected since we are on the verge of such a major change in our lives. I have had a lot of time to think this week and there are two things that have come to mind for me.

(1.) Remember where you came from. Reflect on the Good, Bad, Ugly, and all in between. Each event in our life is a thread that has been wovento make us who we are today. I think we have become so busy in our lives that we do not think much about the memories of our past. I will always cherish sitting in my Grandma's living room with us on the scratchy orange colored couch while she sat in her chair telling us stories about her life. The romantic story of her meeting my Grandpa Billy while she was a nurse at the hospital and he was a patient. He was my mom's dad, but he was killed in a car accident when she was 13 years old. She would tell how years later after her own three kids were already married that the Lord gave her another great man that we knew and loved as our Pawpaw. I treasure the times listening to Granny Douglas tell us about the farm and her boys. I can still see her sitting in that recliner telling us a story and do her signature laugh.

As I have reflected on the good there is so much I could share. I think about the countless times our living room was full with high school friends and my mom's famous pizza. I think about 1990 when my dad was ordained as a pastor and our house was full of people from both sides of the family and friends from all over the place. We had people sleeping in tents, campers, and vans in our back yard. I thought about birthday parties and graduation parties that filled our house. I thought about playing outside and mom calling us in when the Bulls were on TV during the Michael Jordan years. I thought about the countless hours we sat around our kitchen table playing games. I thought about how my dad would pray with us each night before we went to bed.

I even thought of some funny things that happened growing up. The time that we were playing a guessing game and my dad guessed "tampon" and he turned red as soon as he said it. You have to understand, we grew up whispering the word 'underwear'. We really do not talk about stuff like that, like never talk about stuff like that.  I think about the time that we had family in from out-of-town and we were all sitting at the table talking. I guess we were being too loud because my Pawpaw came out of the room to tell every one to be quiet but he had put on my Grandma's robe instead of his. Just the sight of him sent everybody in a roar of laughter. I also thought of the time my sister drove in our ditch. I was a senior in high school and she was finishing up her first year at Bible College. My parents and I were in Southern Illinois for a graduation and she met up at the church. After the graduation I rode with her the rest of the way home. As she was turning into our driveway she completely missed and pulled right into the ditch. Of course we could not pull out. Her car was full of her college stuff and as we were strapped in the car I felt something running down my leg! She had a can of paint that had opening on impact and was spilling in the car. I do not remember how the police got there, but I just remember the police man kept asking, "So... this is YOUR house?" Every time we would bust out laughing. I am surprised that he did not make us walk a line or something!

With all the good there is also some bad that has happened over the years. I think of broken friendships and broken hearts. I think of my dear childhood friend that lost his fight with leukemia in 2000 at the age of 22. I especially think of him when I am back at my home church. My memories of him at church are so vivid and I miss him dearly. I had to drop my mom off at a hair appointments this afternoon near the neighborhood that he once lived in. We were great friends with his whole family and we spent many wonderful times at their house. I drove by their house today just to remember those days.

The ugly I will leave out of this post:) There is one memory that is funny and quite bizarre that I think of when I am home. When Kristy and I were teenagers we were left at home and we were supposed to be cleaning up the kitchen and getting stuff ready for supper. We started arguing and she kept on talking so I was at the sink washing dishes and I started humming just to annoy her. The next thing I know I feel something hit me upside the head and I went down with a ringing in my ears. My sister hit me with a frozen CHICKEN! What was funny is that she felt so bad that she then hit herself upside the head.

I could fill this blog with my memories but I will stop there. I would encourage you to share a family memory with someone this week. I know it will make you smile!!

(2.) Do not let the past define who you are today. A few weeks ago I blogged about my insecurity about my weight. It was one of those posts that I wrote and then almost deleted. I have had a chance to talk with several friends that are dealing with the same thing. One friend as I was talking to her I stated that what is so crazy about my insecurities is that they all started 20-25 years ago! Nobody calls me names any more (well, I guess not to my face). They all started as a young overweight girl who let it define who I was going to be. I know I am a work in progress, but I realized this week that I cannot let the fears and heartbreak of my past dictate who I am today. Last week in Vegas we were told that when we go to plant our church our insecurities will be magnified so we need to deal with them. I think this week I have worked through some of those insecurities.

Well, I have posted much more than I had planned, so I better get to bed. We are heading home in the morning. Our house showed tonight and I am praying that we get some good news tomorrow. We worked hard all week but we got a little shopping in tonight:) One funny story and then I will shut up. The kids and I got back to my mom's beauty shop before she was finished and while we were there the lady was washing my mom's hair. Well, she had the cape over her like you have when you get your hair done and as serious as can be Sam says, "Grandma? Are you wearing your clothes under that cape?" I guess he thought she was getting some kind of shower!

So this picture is a little creepy but also funny. My dad had a bunch of this cord stuff from one of the machines and work and he came and put it on Sam's head. I told him we would just call him "Samantha".