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60s – I don’t recall much about the 60s, other than little things like waiting excitedly for dad to come home from work every day with a pack of sugar babies in his pocket (just for me), eating the crème out of Oreo cookies and receiving a spanking for pitching the wafer (again just for me), moving from Warnock to Thorngate at age 5, crying on my first day of kindergarten, and always wanting to be by my mom’s side. That’s about the extent of my memory from this decade.
when I didn't mind exposing my butt (ha ha)
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70s – The 70s are filled with memories, me a gawky teen, rock concerts (when Mel and Bob allowed me to tag along -- ahh the Superjams... strange smells permeating the air, the hippies, the freakiness), feelings of big changes coming, parents divorcing, fads (maxis, platforms, clogs, low rise, bell bottoms, fringe, overalls, halter tops, shag haircuts), Loves Baby Soft perfume, Charlie’s Angels, Cheech & Chong, Wolfman Jack, Vietnam, Kent State, Watergate, the death of Elvis, going to Jamaica at 14, my first car at 16 (a black bug), hating high school, starting/stopping college, and probably the biggest thing for me... getting married in '78 to the father of my future children. What a crazy busy decade it was. 
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80s – In Edwardsville most of this decade raising Mandy (born in 80) and then five years later Jake and Emily (born in 85). Life was marriage, babies, and being a stay at home mom. It was a good time but also a time of feeling torn about my role in life. Thinking I should do more than stay home I went to business school and then worked for a patent and trademark attorney for a year. Balancing work and kids was hard and prying Mandy off my leg every morning at daycare made me cry more than once on my way to work. Feeling guilty, I went back to being a full-time mom...until 1987 that is, when things changed for our family in a big way. “Said, Californy is the place you oughta be…so we loaded up the truck and we moved to Beverly…” Well, not Beverly Hills exactly but just an hour from there...Irvine, CA, to open a printing business and usher out the 80s.
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90s – Goodbye palm trees, hello smoke stacks. After living the southern CA life for a couple years it was time to return home. Not to Edwardsville this time but back to the steel mill town I was born. The 90s for me was an uneasy decade of divorce, single momness, headstrong kids, new job, new house, new relationships, new breakups, more guilt, and sometimes fear. Looking back I don’t know what I would have done without my mom (my kids' second mom). She was there when we needed her most (a fact she loves to remind me of at times). And she truly deserves much of the credit for the pride I take in my kids today (a fact I fail to remind her of all of the time). Overall the 90s was a decade of bumps, bruises, and learning along the way and I don’t think I’d change it even if I could. Every year and every decade that passes evolves us a little more into who we are. I think the 90s were very formative years for my kids and for me.
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00s – Wow, did we really just finish the 00s? What a strange thought indeed. Remember how it began, with the “Year 2000” problem? When all our computers were supposed to blow up in our face...or something like that? Thank God that didn’t happen. One event that will always stand out about this decade is the horrific 911. Like most everyone else, I remember exactly where I was when the first plane struck. In that moment life became dark and different. Some of my personal memories of the decade include Mandy graduating college, Jake and Emily graduating high school, and myself coming full circle when I unexpectedly (and happily) found love with a childhood acquaintance. Losing dad in 09 was the hardest part of this decade for me but I’ll always be grateful for the privilege of sharing 9-1/2 years of it with him.
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10s – A new decade has begun and who knows what the next ten years will hold. I have high hopes for it though...a big one being that I’m still here to reflect on it when it’s over. I'm very much looking forward to doing just that.
2010 – only the beginning
2 comments:
Happy Birthday, Nancy! Hope You have many more.
Why thank you Marcus... :)
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