IrishEyes
Brilliant_Rock
- Joined
- Jan 4, 2005
- Messages
- 1,246
Well, I told myself that after making "Ideal Rock" I would tell my little story, so I guess it''s time!
I was born 25.5 years ago on a cold December day on the southside of Chicago. My parents were young, both only 20 and had been married just over a year. But they loved me very much, despite the fact that I was a "suprise", as I am the result of my mom forgetting to refill her birth control prescription!! I was a shy little girl, but I loved being around my family, especially my grandmas! I''ll admit, I was really spoiled for awhile. My mother was so happy she had a little girl, and she dressed me up all the time. When I was four, she spent $200 in materials to make me a wedding gown for Halloween! My dad wasn''t impressed....
Right before we moved out of the city when I was almost 5, my little brother was born. I remember being so excited because he was like a real, live doll for me to play with! Even back then, I was very responsible and my mother let me hold him alot and feed him. He was so much fun!
As I said, we then moved out of the city to a close suburb. We were living in a small townhouse that was supposed to be "temporary", but you know how that goes - we ended up staying there for 10 years! But the neighborhood was good at the time, I started school and made a few friends. I never had a large group of friends, just a close few, as I was pretty shy. I was also a very self-conscious little girl, I always felt like an outsider. But I was smart, did pretty well in elementary school. This is also around the time I got interested in jewelry! I used to go with my mom to the mall when she would have her wedding ring cleaned. I was like a kid in a candy store, and I would walk around all the shiny, sparkly cases and admire the diamonds, rubies, sapphires, etc. I remember one time the salesperson said to my mother, " she''s going to be a jeweler someday!"
However, things got rough later. My parents started having a real hard time. My mother was kind of a "party girl" and started drinking alot and staying out late with her friends. My father, the exact opposite of my mom, obviously didn''t understand her behavior. My dad is a very strict, Type-A personality. He''s very driven, wants the finer things in life, very hard-working, extremely political, intelligent, etc. He badly wanted to move out of the neighborhood we were in (which was starting to go downhill) and into a nice house. Things started to get real bad. The fighting was horrendous, the police were involved frequently. At one point, both my parents were arrested, but that''s another story within itself! This was also the point in my life that I broke out of my shell and stopped being so shy. I was about 12/13 when all this was happening. I started smoking to ease the pressure and pain. I started being a little wise-a** around my family. Ah, teenagers
My parents finally divorced when I was 14. My dad immediately started seeing another woman, who is now my stepmother. At first, I hated her! But she grew on me over time and now we get along pretty well. We discovered we had alot in common. My mother and I had a rough relationship for many years after the divorce. She was a pretty bad alcoholic for many years and there were so many incidents that occurred, I can''t even remember them all. I just remember begging her to stop drinking. It took me many years of therapy to realize that it wasn''t my fault she drank and that all I could do was love her and help her to get better. She finally quit drinking 4 years ago, and I couldn''t be prouder, and I''ve forgiven her for all the heartache she caused us.
As I said, my teen years were a mess. I got into all the things kids shouldn''t be in; drugs, alcohol, etc. I ran away from home when I was 16 and got caught by the cops. I had no ambition, it was real bad. But then somehow I snapped out of it and actually managed to graduate high school. I got a couple of good jobs and made some money. Then I had a real bad year. My grandma got sick and passed away. I was working a job that I hated, sitting in front of a computer all day, being real inactive and gaining alot of weight. My boyfriend ( who is now my husband
) and I were having problems and top it all off, I got pregnant. I didn''t even know I was until almost 3 months later when I miscarried at work one day. It was a real bad year and I just had to get away. So..... I joined the Army!
Don''t ask me why, I guess I just had to prove to myself that I had strength within me and that I could accomplish it. So off I went to basic training. I had alot of fun, got my butt kicked, but I toned up, lost alot of weight and finished it! I was proud of myself, proud that I earned the right to wear the uniform of the United States! Matt ( my hubby) was already in and was proudly waiting for me when I returned home. It was then that we decided to spend the rest of our lives together! I started going to school for Psychology, a passion of mine. I wanted to become a therapist for people with emotional/affective disorders.
Then that awful day happened that everyone will never forget - September 11th. Everything changed that day. My unit was put on alert and managed to go almost 2 years before actually being deployed. As many here know, I got married to my beloved Matthew, then went to the Middle East for 17 months. It was the most eye-opening experience of my life. Certainly the most dangerous. But I was lucky enough to come home alive, with all my limbs. Words cannot describe what happens over there in Iraq. What it''s like to be away from home for that long, not knowing if you will make it home alive. But it gave me such a gift, and that is that I don''t take ANYTHING for granted anymore. It really put things in perspective, made me realize how lucky I am in life, and that even though I don''t live in a huge house, drive a fancy car or wear the best clothes, I have more than some people in this world could ever dream of. It snapped me out of a life-long battle with depression. Like I said, it was a gift.
Now I''m back home and am getting into a new career. Like that salesperson said so many years ago, I''m going to be a jeweler!! My ultimate goal though, is to be a buyer, maybe even have my own store. But I realized awhile ago that jewelry and diamonds are such a passion of mine, why don''t I make it my career?! I''m very excited about it!
I also have the most wonderful, amazing husband in the world!! He''s truly my best friend, he''s so good to me. He''s supported me through everything. Shortly after coming back from overseas, doctors discovered I had borderline stage 1 cervical cancer. I had to have surgery and he was right there for me. Later in the year, I had surgery again on my ovaries. Again, he was right there. He''s ALWAYS been there for me, through thick and thin. I can only hope I am being a good wife to him, I think I am! I try! But we are so incredibly happy, everyday I wake up and thank my lucky stars to have him next to me. We are planning on adopting a baby in about 5 or 6 years or so, and I know we are going to make a wonderful family!
Anyway, that is all for now, sorry it was so long!! But that is my story in a nutshell - I hope everyone enjoys it!
As always, IrishEyes
I was born 25.5 years ago on a cold December day on the southside of Chicago. My parents were young, both only 20 and had been married just over a year. But they loved me very much, despite the fact that I was a "suprise", as I am the result of my mom forgetting to refill her birth control prescription!! I was a shy little girl, but I loved being around my family, especially my grandmas! I''ll admit, I was really spoiled for awhile. My mother was so happy she had a little girl, and she dressed me up all the time. When I was four, she spent $200 in materials to make me a wedding gown for Halloween! My dad wasn''t impressed....
Right before we moved out of the city when I was almost 5, my little brother was born. I remember being so excited because he was like a real, live doll for me to play with! Even back then, I was very responsible and my mother let me hold him alot and feed him. He was so much fun!
As I said, we then moved out of the city to a close suburb. We were living in a small townhouse that was supposed to be "temporary", but you know how that goes - we ended up staying there for 10 years! But the neighborhood was good at the time, I started school and made a few friends. I never had a large group of friends, just a close few, as I was pretty shy. I was also a very self-conscious little girl, I always felt like an outsider. But I was smart, did pretty well in elementary school. This is also around the time I got interested in jewelry! I used to go with my mom to the mall when she would have her wedding ring cleaned. I was like a kid in a candy store, and I would walk around all the shiny, sparkly cases and admire the diamonds, rubies, sapphires, etc. I remember one time the salesperson said to my mother, " she''s going to be a jeweler someday!"
However, things got rough later. My parents started having a real hard time. My mother was kind of a "party girl" and started drinking alot and staying out late with her friends. My father, the exact opposite of my mom, obviously didn''t understand her behavior. My dad is a very strict, Type-A personality. He''s very driven, wants the finer things in life, very hard-working, extremely political, intelligent, etc. He badly wanted to move out of the neighborhood we were in (which was starting to go downhill) and into a nice house. Things started to get real bad. The fighting was horrendous, the police were involved frequently. At one point, both my parents were arrested, but that''s another story within itself! This was also the point in my life that I broke out of my shell and stopped being so shy. I was about 12/13 when all this was happening. I started smoking to ease the pressure and pain. I started being a little wise-a** around my family. Ah, teenagers
My parents finally divorced when I was 14. My dad immediately started seeing another woman, who is now my stepmother. At first, I hated her! But she grew on me over time and now we get along pretty well. We discovered we had alot in common. My mother and I had a rough relationship for many years after the divorce. She was a pretty bad alcoholic for many years and there were so many incidents that occurred, I can''t even remember them all. I just remember begging her to stop drinking. It took me many years of therapy to realize that it wasn''t my fault she drank and that all I could do was love her and help her to get better. She finally quit drinking 4 years ago, and I couldn''t be prouder, and I''ve forgiven her for all the heartache she caused us.
As I said, my teen years were a mess. I got into all the things kids shouldn''t be in; drugs, alcohol, etc. I ran away from home when I was 16 and got caught by the cops. I had no ambition, it was real bad. But then somehow I snapped out of it and actually managed to graduate high school. I got a couple of good jobs and made some money. Then I had a real bad year. My grandma got sick and passed away. I was working a job that I hated, sitting in front of a computer all day, being real inactive and gaining alot of weight. My boyfriend ( who is now my husband
Don''t ask me why, I guess I just had to prove to myself that I had strength within me and that I could accomplish it. So off I went to basic training. I had alot of fun, got my butt kicked, but I toned up, lost alot of weight and finished it! I was proud of myself, proud that I earned the right to wear the uniform of the United States! Matt ( my hubby) was already in and was proudly waiting for me when I returned home. It was then that we decided to spend the rest of our lives together! I started going to school for Psychology, a passion of mine. I wanted to become a therapist for people with emotional/affective disorders.
Then that awful day happened that everyone will never forget - September 11th. Everything changed that day. My unit was put on alert and managed to go almost 2 years before actually being deployed. As many here know, I got married to my beloved Matthew, then went to the Middle East for 17 months. It was the most eye-opening experience of my life. Certainly the most dangerous. But I was lucky enough to come home alive, with all my limbs. Words cannot describe what happens over there in Iraq. What it''s like to be away from home for that long, not knowing if you will make it home alive. But it gave me such a gift, and that is that I don''t take ANYTHING for granted anymore. It really put things in perspective, made me realize how lucky I am in life, and that even though I don''t live in a huge house, drive a fancy car or wear the best clothes, I have more than some people in this world could ever dream of. It snapped me out of a life-long battle with depression. Like I said, it was a gift.
Now I''m back home and am getting into a new career. Like that salesperson said so many years ago, I''m going to be a jeweler!! My ultimate goal though, is to be a buyer, maybe even have my own store. But I realized awhile ago that jewelry and diamonds are such a passion of mine, why don''t I make it my career?! I''m very excited about it!
I also have the most wonderful, amazing husband in the world!! He''s truly my best friend, he''s so good to me. He''s supported me through everything. Shortly after coming back from overseas, doctors discovered I had borderline stage 1 cervical cancer. I had to have surgery and he was right there for me. Later in the year, I had surgery again on my ovaries. Again, he was right there. He''s ALWAYS been there for me, through thick and thin. I can only hope I am being a good wife to him, I think I am! I try! But we are so incredibly happy, everyday I wake up and thank my lucky stars to have him next to me. We are planning on adopting a baby in about 5 or 6 years or so, and I know we are going to make a wonderful family!
Anyway, that is all for now, sorry it was so long!! But that is my story in a nutshell - I hope everyone enjoys it!
As always, IrishEyes
300x240.png)