7 Things That Happened To Me as a Teenager

I read this meme at Thinking About. This is a blog I read and enjoy regularly. Even though, she didn't tag me, I decided to do this one and pass it on to some of the people who read my blog.



1. When I was 14 my foster sister, Jackie, was removed from our home and sent back to her natural mother. She had been with us for almost 4 years and she was almost 4 years old. It is certainly one of the defining events in my life. The full story can be found on my mom's blog here and here and also on my dad's website here.



2. That same year my brother ran away from home for the first time. He was 17 and he continued to come and go sporadically for the next year. His behavior and the grief he caused my parents caused a very stressful time in my life.



3. I took high school chemistry in the 11th grade. I had not yet decided what career path I was interested in. I was fairly good in math and science and made excellent grades. The chemistry teacher gave me a pamplet about careers in pharmacy and introduced me to an idea I began to pursue. All these years later here I sit typing this blog as a pharmacist.



4. I encountered the world of mean girls in a big way. If you've read Haley Dimarco's book (not related to the movie of the same name) then you know some of what I lived through. I was not popular in school and I did not know what was necessary to fit in and not stand out. Looking back I know this was a blessing but at the time it was pure hell. I struggled a lot with depression but did not know how to cope with it. I was at a conference a year ago where Dimarco spoke about the subject and my mother was surprised to realize I still carried a lot of that around. I do not want my daughter to have to go through that.



5. I fell in love for the first time. We dated for 3 years and I later married someone else. But that first relationship gave me a lot of confidence. There is a country song by Blaine Larson called "Teaching Me How to Love You". The words explain how those previous relationships prepare us for the "love of our life". I don't regret the relationship but I don't regret breaking up either.



6. Because of #4 & #5 I gradually became a stronger person. I quit worrying so much about what was popular or who. I became my own person. By the time I started college I had learned to not let others get to me so much. I made friends who like me for who I was and I trying either to fit in or to stand out.



7. When I was 19 and a freshman in college my roomate tried to commit suicide. She came to the room after I was in bed that night bleeding from her wrist and intoxicated. She and I were very close at this point. This relationship was the most intimate female friendship (non-relative) I've ever had. I was ill prepared to deal with her alcoholism or depression. She survived and required surgery to repair the nerve damage. But again this tramatic event is one of the defining events in my life.



I liked this meme and would like to see some others participate: Terry, Mike, Mother.