I was born and raised in northeast Indiana. I have pretty much lived here all my life. I am the youngest of 9 brothers and one sister. All my immediate family still live in the area except for the eldest brother who owns a furniture store in Bradenton, FL. I havent seen him for years. Anyway, my parents are older of course. My dad being 75 and my mom being 60. Yes, they are 15 years apart. But the funny thing is... they are definitely soul mates and can not be separated. My mom is actually my dads 3rd wife. So yes, 4 of my brothers are half brothers. But, my mom raised all of them from when they were young. They all call her mom and all of us treat each others like "normal" brothers would. My Dad was in WWII and has a couple of purple hearts from it. He was wounded seriously a couple times. Little did he know, that later in life that the injury he suffered would actually pay his sons way through college. My Dad enlisted in the army on April 11, 1942 I believe.. which ironically is my birthday (well the day.. not the year obviously..lol). How my mom and dad met is pretty unique. My mom actually baby sat for my dad's kids after his 2nd wife had died. She was 18 and he was 33 when they were married. I think it is an awesome reminder that if two people love each other, age doesnt matter. As far as granparents go, I never met mine. They died before I was born. My 13 nephew and nieces are lucky cause they get to experience the feeling of having grandparents. I never got that chance. GEEZ.. ok.. i know this is supposed to be about me.. not my parents!! I had a pretty normal childhood. People always ask how did your family survive with that many kids? Well, I have NO IDEA. hehehe.. I remember that when we went to the fair in the fall, my parents would take us in shifts cause we didnt have a large enough vehicle to carry all of us. In a family this large you have to learn how to share and definitely do without. Although I do have to admit since I was the "baby" I got to do a lot of things my brothers did not get to do. So I was spoiled I guess you could say. :-)
During the adolescent years, I had only two "life threatning events" LOL. One of those was when I had to have an apendectomy in the seventh grade. It was the first time I had to be put in the hospital for anything. I was sooo scared. But hey, playing with the up and down button on the bed for a week and driving the nurses nuts was well worth it at that time. :-) Of course even in a situation like that, my brothers still had to pick on me and ask me "did they have to shave what little hair you have down there?" Ugh... BROTHERS!!
My other incident was, I totaled my first car 2 months after I received my liscense and bought it. It was a white Ford Escort, and I loved that car. But, driving on a chip and sealed road a little too fast can cause a person to do a 360 and destroy a fence row and hit a telephone pole. EEKS! Of course, when I awoke in my car the emergency team was there. They asked me a question or two and the first thing I could say was, "Will my insurance cover this, cause my dad is going to kill me!!" LOL.
Throughout my high school career I was very active in the music department and my main instrument was trumpet. I was the typical HS student... work and money and social life mattered more than grades or college plans. I had a great time working at a local hospital in the dietary department and made some great friends and memories there. But like i said, i was typical HS student who was average grade wise, wrote fake passes to get out of class, skipped test days in Algebra II honors so friends could get me the answers the next day... (the teacher still tells my story). I still keep in contact with friends from high school. We go back really far. Some of us as far back as 2nd or 3rd grade, and we have been best buds ever since.
After HS graduation, I attended Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana and majored in music. My major instrument was piano. I also play the trumpet (some French horn), but piano is definitely my favorite. My favorite composer would have to be Frederic Chopin. During college, I think I played a Chopin nocturne every semester for recital. I love them. I lived on campus for one year and I hated it!! I lived in Lafollette (which was called Latoilet). Ugh.. it was bad!! All I ever asked was for shower curtains on the showers!! :-) The next 4 years I lived off campus in an awesome apartment with 3 great friends. I have some of the funniest stories from there. They seem to think that all they did those 4 years was hold me down and tickle me... but for some odd reason I have blocked that out of my mind. :-) Now, we just had a roomie reunion spring of 99 and it was fun. But guess what happened? I bet you can guess from the previous statement.. lol.
Also during college, I was active in church and volunteer work. I have been on 3 mission trips. Mission trips truly make you realize your priorities and what is important in life. Also, makes you realize how lucky we are. I have been on mission trips to Anadarko, OK., Los Angeles, CA., and also Puerto Rico. All of them were awesome and I highly recommend to anyone to go on a service or mission trip. GREAT EXPERIENCE.
During my senior year at BSU, I participated in a music field study on Vancouver Island. I studied piano duo and duet performance. Vancouver Island was definitley one of the most beautiful places. The stars were sooo bright and there were sooo many of them compared to what we can see in Indiana. The temperant rain forests were beautiful and so was the Pacific Ocean (but cold!). I also learned a lot about cougars and bears!! YIKES!! I also learned not to party in the woods 2 miles from your house at 1:00 a.m. with drunken Canadians!! hehehehehe.... Ugh.. i think i still have bruises from walking drunk in the woods!!
After college, I worked in a local bank that I actually had been working at during the summers to make extra money for school. Had a blast working there and worked with some great people. Have so many great memories and stories from there..
Then one evening ( I think it was friday the 13th actually.. lol) I came home from the bank and received a phone call from an area school and I ended up teaching instrumental music for a couple years. I love music and I love teaching kids, but I didnt love how teachers are treated and how they are compensated financially for their time invested.
I resigned from teaching recently and I know I made the right decision. I am not sure what I am going to be doing next, but i guess it is just the next chapter and I am excited to read on. Update to the next chapter: hehehe..
Well I am now currently working in the bank that I worked for all through college. I am a personal banker (ya know.. loans, cd's, new accounts, etc) I really like it.. it is fun. At this point I am looking at applying to grad school but dont know where yet... I want to get my masters in music. Sometimes you have to be away from something in order to realize how much you miss it. As for now.. i am kinda in a flux at not knowing where I am going or what I want to do. So for now, I am just along for the ride..