Me as a teen

Life has been busy, that's all I can say. That's why I haven't posted lately.

Moving on...

June (from ByeByePie) did a post on herself as a teen and asked others to do the same, so I'm blogging it...

I think confused best describes me in high school. I think I was always caught in the middle, never exactly going full force into one side or the other...

a few examples...

I was really smart in high school but totally not interested in things like homework. So, I'd get to school early, find a friend who would let me copy theirs, get a halfway decent grade, rock my tests, and move on down the road. I think I had a 3.5 gpa by the time I was done, but with a little EFFORT I totally could have been one of the 8 valedictorians (seriously, from a class of 104 we had 8 valedictorians and they ALL gave speeches at graduation. How's that for ridiculous?) who all had something like a 4.2.

I was super dedicated to my faith. We went to mass every weekend, I attended weekly religious ed classes and was one of the few members of the youth group. I loved going on retreats and doing volunteer work. Meanwhile, my circle of friends at school were what you might call 'the rough crowd'. I was the only virgin among them (gasp!), the only one who didn't smoke (and I'm not just talkin' cigarettes) or drink. Just call me Sandra Dee. Or not. I still had some of my rougher moments for sure.

I had a pretty happy home life. We lived in a great neighborhood, took some nice vacations, had all of what we needed and most of what we wanted. But the summer before my senior year (on their 20th wedding anniversary) my parents announced to my sister and I that they were getting divorced, which tore my world apart and completely unsettled any sense of commitment, family, or happiness that I had known. To this day, even after experiencing tragic deaths of loved ones, I still believe that my parents' divorce has been the hardest most troubling experience in my life. Its something that (I believe unbeknownst to them) still makes holidays difficult, birthdays awkward, and leaves me questioning everything I experienced through my childhood.

I don't mean to make all of my life seem tragic and horrible, but re-living my teen years is something I wouldn't do for a million bucks. There's a lot to be learned through that time, but most importantly, I'm glad I'm on the other side of it all, having learned the lessons and mostly being able to move on.