I grew up in a rural setting, just on the edge of suburbia. My dad was (and still is) a professor at the local junior college, and Mom stayed home with us kids. I am the oldest of 3 children-my brother is two years younger than me and my sister is six years younger.

While we didn’t have a farm per se, we did live on 13 acres of land, with corn and hayfields surrounding the property. I remember summers playing with the kids across the street, which meant riding in the hay and corn wagons and playing in the big red barn or out in the woods. A trip to the mall was only about a 20 minute drive, so it really was the best of all worlds for me.

As a child, I was a voracious reader. In fact, that was a common punishment for me: “Go to your room and stay there and don’t read any books!” My brother and I fought quite a bit. Now I know that we were just trying to get attention from the folks. At the time, I thought for sure it was all his fault.

I was quite unpopular at school. I don’t know if that caused my lack of self-confidence in life, or the other way around. I am sure that I wasn’t all that easy to get along with, as I was very quick with my know-it-all comments and <wince> bossiness. I also was pretty awkward at sports…always the last one chosen for teams and that sort of thing. The memory of those experiences has planted quite a determination in me to be sure my boys are at least competent in some sports.

By the time I was 9, I was a serious horse lover. My mom very wisely had me join a 4-H group, and I was allowed to borrow a horse that year to learn to ride and care for. His name was Bert; I took him to a few horse shows, and even went to the county fair with him. After proving that I was really serious about it, my folks agreed to buy my very first horse.

Salty was a Palomino: he had a white mane and tail, and his hair was the color of a new copper penny. Oh, he was such a pretty horse! The first year we had him was quite the learning experience, let me tell you. He knew we were afraid to discipline him so he took total advantage of us novices. One of the more humiliating situations happened at a show when he refused to get into the trailer so we could leave.  Of course we were blocking the entrance, preventing anyone else from leaving. Then he busted loose and ran all over the grounds, tail waving in the wind. Rotten horse, lol.

He would rear up whenever he didn’t feel like doing what we asked, scaring the pants off of all of us even more. When I say “us” that includes my folks, who nearly knocked their own children over in various hasty retreats.

We would call the former owner and she’d come over and lay on the ground underneath him while he stood perfectly still for whatever she wanted. We just couldn’t figure out why he was so awful for us and good for her. Finally, my parents came to a sad decision. Salty was going to have to be sold, because we just couldn’t handle him. I was in agreement with the plan, and marched out to the barn with quite a chip on my shoulder. Stupid horse, not doing what he was supposed to. Who did he think he was, anyway??

Wouldn’t you know it? He never misbehaved for me again. As soon as I wasn’t afraid to be firm with him, he shaped right up. We went on to own Salty for several more years, and he was a very good boy. Well. After we bought a second horse as companion for him. He broke out of the barn quite a few times before we figured out that he wanted a friend. Lol. I owned at least one horse consistently until I was well into college, and my mom had her own horses for years after that.

I got pretty good grades in school, and when I was 12 I started swimming on the swim team. That would have been 7th grade. I swam again in 8th grade. To be honest, I have no recollection of being at all fast those two years. I loved being in the water though, and it was only natural for me to join the swim team when I went to high school. Oh, I had no idea what I was getting into! I still remember how sore I was after the first day of practice. I wound up swimming in the same lane as one of the fastest girls on the team, and I remember her just passing me over and over and over. At the end of that first year, the coach told me he’d been surprised when I showed up the second day.

I swam on the team for 3 years. In that time I earned my very own varsity letter, and improved my very horrible times up to around average. I pretty much was the slowest swimmer on the team but I had a great time and am very glad I did it.

I also sang in various choirs and participated in school musicals. Those commitments were a lot of hard work, but again I’m really glad to have had the experiences. I was never a lead singer or actor, but that’s okay. I think I had the talent to do some of those things, but my lack of confidence really slowed me down.

When I was 15 I went to a fine arts camp for two weeks. I think that was when I learned that they had an international tour program every summer. It took a few years but with help I was able to raise enough money to go with the international choir in the summer of 1987, right after I graduated. We went to Germany, Belgium, and the Netherlands for a 30 day tour.

The trip was fantastic. We stayed with host families in 9 different cities, and I still correspond with some of them. I later went back to visit a few of them on two other trips, and I’m so thankful to have had that opportunity. Several weeks after I got home from that trip, I started college. More on that and my life story in the next post.

Related posts:

1. The Road to Earnesty Part 2
2. The Road to Earnesty Part 3
3. The Road to Earnesty Part 4
4. Be Surprising

Tags: childhood, family, history, memories