7 Things

My bloggy sista J tagged me for this meme about seven things that happened to you in your teen years.

1.Something similar happened to both J and me. In grade school, I was one of the smartest and most atheletic girls in my class. I was salutatorian of my class, vice president of the student body, and on all the sports teams. I got A's and had trophies up the yin yang. Then, I got to my private high school with its admission test and pre-admission interview, and almost everyone there was brighter and prettier and more talented than me. It was humbling to realize that I was no longer the biggest fish in the pond.

2. Well, to be honest, sex happened in my teenaged years. I don't necessarily think that it was the best move on my part, but I was in a long term relationship and in my naivete, I thought I was going to marry the guy.

3. Can you believe that the first death in my family did not occur until I was a freshman in high school? My grandfather had a heart attack and passed away after a month or so in the hospital. And that is when I learned that I was selfish and cowardly, for I was too scared to visit him, as he wasn't the same person I remembered. The shell of him that lay in the hospital bed was not the man I loved and I could not face it. I never properly said goodbye to him, and I will always regret it.

4. I was at the height of my physical ability in those years (such as it was) and during this time I found out how far I could push my body. Turns out it was farther than I thought, and I enjoyed playing club and varsity volleyball immensely. We were a top-ranked team and almost won the CIF championship. What I didn't enjoy, and still don't was the running and physical conditioning. Suffice it to say, I haven't run in a very, very long time.

5. In high school I was exposed to the world of drugs. These were "good" girls from "good" families who fell under the spell of drugs and alcohol. Some of them had to go to rehab, and some were able to stop themselves. My next door neighbor fell in with the wrong crowd, and one night I remember her throwing these berries from a bush that grew outside my window, which was her signal that she wanted to talk. I got up to find that she had taken acid at a party, and she was afraid to go home. I hid her in my room and took care of her, and I don't think either of our parents were any the wiser.

6. For the first time, I visited another country, which was Puerto Rico. Although it technically is not a foreign country, for all practical purposes it might as well be. I learned Spanish quickly during the two weeks I was there, and just as quickly forgot it. I frolicked on the beach, and men bought the blonde girl drinks. But the memory that sticks out the most was flying on this tiny little Cessna across the island, it seated perhaps ten, and being scared out of my mind as the island winds buffeted us all over the place. There was a bead curtain that separated the passengers from the pilots, and my mind can still see it swinging crazily back and forth. I thought we were going to be knocked out of the sky. To this day, turbulence sends me into a slight panic.

7. Something that happened, or rather, didn't happen to me in my teenage years was that I learned not a darn thing about money. I was handed money whenever I wanted to go out or buy a record or clothes or whatever. It is odd that my father being an accountant, didn't see fit to teach me about the value of a dollar or how to budget. The failure to do so caused me much grief in my early twenties, where I incurred much debt and had a crappy credit score. Through some miracle I was finally able to pay off my debts, but I learned my lesson the hard way.

If you like this meme, consider it yours.

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