Week 12: Childhood ME (Member Photos)
Briar Marie - Oh so many things to say about my childhood. It was the best. Even the bad parts made me a better person. But family-wise, I hit the jackpot. We weren't rich, but we (my sisters and I) didn't know it. We spent hours in the "woods" behind our house. Small enough to see the house on the other side, but to our little imaginations, it was the deepest, darkest forest. We spent nearly every waking hour exploring every inch of it, climbing every tree, and imagining we were on all kinds of important quests. I used to collect and carefully polish "fossils" and identify "poison" berries while living off of the wild raspberries and blackberries. When my husband and I were looking for our forever home, I knew I needed SPACE. Which is hard to come by so close to the cities. A crappy market gave us our beautiful little property and I spent this morning hanging from a rotting tree with a timer in my hand before the kids woke up. Ha! Life is still good. (Although my back reminds me that I am not entirely the same...)
Kortney Fox - You are only a child for a short part of your life. The world will never appear the same to you as it did when you were 4 feet tall and trying to figure all of it out. My parents made sure that we got to enjoy being little for as long as we could. My brother and I would be the first ones outside to play in the mornings and the last ones to come in, long after the sun went down. My dad even installed a giant spotlight on our driveway for those extra late evenings. We were not fighting over electronics, we were fighting over who was going to be "it". I am so grateful for the childhood I had and can remember so many great memories. Thanks to my parents, I have not lost my "inner child" and am having a blast creating the same kind of memories for my littles.One of my all time favorite activities was hide-n-seek. We would play it outside and even in the dark running from house to house. When the weather was uncooperative, we had just as much fun playing it indoors. I would always try to find the smallest places to cram myself into or see if I could pull off running past the seeker to another spot without getting caught. To this day, it is one of my favorite games to play. What we did not have in our house growing up though was a pet. I see now that it would have completely ruined my "Greatest Hider EVER!" award. It is not as easy to hide from them as it is to hide from my littles! So be honest...does the cat give away my hiding place?
Trish McCoy - I wasn't fond of my childhood. I am not one who thinks I wish I was a kid again. As much as I loved my father who has passed away and I do miss him so much, he was Bipolar. Living with a bipolar father was very hard to deal with and understand as a child. Thankfully I had my mom to help me through my dad's bipolar rages. Without her I don't know how I could of done my childhood. It wasn't until I was older and moved out of the house that my father finally got on some medication to help him with it. We then had a better relationship as father and daughter. I don't have many good moments I can remember as a child but one of my good moments in my childhood was when I was 9 years old. My father took me to a yard sale where some older lady was selling all her dolls. He let me pick a doll out. This doll was her. I still have her and I will cherish it forever.
Jenny Parker - I have a confession...I still sleep with a baby blanket. Not my original blanket as I am 39 years old. That sweet blankie is in a special place covered in grape jelly stains and crude stitching I put in the holes when I was old enough to learn to sew. I've had several replacements throughout the years. My blankies have been to Europe, to college, on my honeymoon to Tahiti!! It's not that I need one emotionally anymore, but I cannot sleep without something tucked under my left arm. But, if I'm being honest, I still get great comfort in holding and cuddling a blankie. I had an opportunity to love on my son's while we were playing today. There is nothing like the feel of loving a blank, and this one has the added bonus of smelling like my first born.
Chelle Deskeere - I can't say I remember too much of my own childhood. I was sexually molested and body shamed until the age of 14. I kept it a secret, and after some point near 8 years old I blocked it out. I began piecing things together again when I was near graduation from high school. I have three beautiful boys, all from different fathers. I have a failed marriage, but I'm happy to say I left that one because I felt controlled...sexually, emotionally, financially. Growth has taken place. This photo is significant, because while it isn't the same exact playground equipment, it IS the same exact location and school where I attended elementary. My ten year old son now attends this school. I have faint memories of playing chase, tag and capture the queen in this very spot, and They are happy memories. Each day as we wait for my son to get out of school, my two year old and I play here. This boy has brought so much light to my dark. He encourages me to embrace what child is left in me. Heck, I'm even wearing Mickey Mouse shirts these days, and I never would have as a child! He causes me to take pause, enjoy the little things that all children enjoy, to sit and sift the dirt through my fingers, to inspect each bug on their journey passing by. When I parent, I think back to when I was a child. What did I need from my mother or another soul back then? I try my hardest to be that person.
Ellen Anne - Stephen is the perfect explanation of my childhood. We met at our church around Easter when I was 5 and from our adolescent years and beyond, he was sweeeeeet on me. All throughout childhood I remember getting ready for church and seeing Stephen there. He went from a pest that knocked me off my bike, to a teenager that teased me about wearing flip flops in the winter, to a college boy that talked to me about sophisticated things like fruit and dreams. smile emoticon He has always been there. Basically when I thought about "childhood me" - I thought about Stephen. He has been with me all along. Married for 6 1/2 years now, Stephen was my childhood - and I pray every day that he is my old age.
Aubrey Dettmer - Quite honestly, I've never actually read War and Peace. I've seen the Audrey Hepburn version of the movie, but the book just sits on my bookcase to make me look smarter. wink emoticon I've always been a big reader. My dad was a high school English teacher, and I was never without a book in my hands as a kid. At family get-togethers, I'd be balled up in a chair in the corner, reading. Most days, I would spend hours in my room reading. These days, it's tough to have time to read anything. At night, I usually get a page in before I fall asleep, and truthfully, photography takes up any free time I have. I miss the quiet and calm that comes from just taking an hour or two in a chair with a book. Is it too late for a New Year's Resolution to work that into the schedule?
MacKenzie Gilliam - My childhood was very dark. I had alcoholic parents, domestic violence was happening between my parents. They got a divorce when I was 13, my dad - my protector left. 2 months later, I was made a mother. Yet another gloomy dark thing to add to my life. 9 months later {at 14} the light came, a screaming 8lb baby girl. 9 months after {15 Almost 16} that I met my now husband.2 years after that... I married my person, the person who would forever be my light.I started life very early.. There wasn't much childhood... if any.Dark gloomy times still happen, but the light pushes forward and stands out despite all the darkness it may face.
Adriana Meixner - I had a great childhood and for that I feel blessed. There were always lots family members around such as aunts, uncles and cousins which is probably why I would sometimes seek refuge in a quiet spot all by myself away from all the noise. My mom would tell you that I could often be found at the kitchen or dining table colouring for hours if you'd let me. For me, it satisfied both my creative side while also soothing my mind from the hustle and bustle around me. Now that I have children of my own I'm so happy that they too are starting to colour and we can often be found at the table doodling away and imagining what story is unfolding in the picture before us. It's a great way to not only connect with my children thru art but it also takes me back to my own childhood and simply makes me smile.
Jennifer L. Bruce - Childhood me: lazy Saturday mornings, spent staring at the cereal box while I stuffed my face with sugary goodness. Back then there were tattoos, race cars, and baking soda submarines in the boxes, and you could only see cartoons on Saturday mornings. Things are a bit different now, but eating Apple Cinnamon Cheerios out of my daughter's Peter Rabbit bowl took me back.
