Last week, my mom, my little sister and I went through a couple of my old file cabinets that were in our closet. One of the cabinets was full of my mom’s old stuff from her childhood through her marriage to my dad. As Bridget and I sat there going through my mom’s old diaries reading about all the boys who asked her out and looking through her old pictures and homecoming tiaras, we realized something…our mom is probably super disappointed that we weren’t as cool as she was. I mean really…she was homecoming queen, super popular, a sorority girl…basically everything I was not. I don’t think she ever did speech. I doubt she sat at home on prom and wondering why nobody asked her to the dance. She probably never had to cancel her homecoming hair appointment because she didn’t have a date. She was the “it” girl in high school…I was just “a” girl in high school. It got me to thinking…what if my kids are super popular? What if popularity skips a generation? I will have NO idea how to handle a popular kid…I’ll envy him/her every time he/she has a cool date. I’ll wonder why he/she refuses to go to the first debate team meeting of the year. I’ll scream louder than she will when the popular boy asks her out on a date.
But I’m okay with being a nerd. If I wasn’t a nerdy girl, I wouldn’t have attracted that nerdy boy that I fell so madly in love with on…wait for it, wait for it…THE SPEECH TEAM!
Our first picture together. I had such a big crush on him. Look how geeky he is!
One thing that I thought was super cool about going through my mom’s old stuff was the fondness she still has for her high school sweetheart, Bobby. They broke up when he went away to college but she still smiles when she thinks about him and just has such respect for him. I gotta admit…I’m not necessarily a “respect for the exes” kind of girl. I mean, generally, you break up with someone for a reason…either they broke your heart or you broke theirs (unless it’s a Jerry Seinfeld “the first truly mutual breakup of all time” kind of thing)…usually those heartbreaks don’t really give way to friendships. I only had 2 other boyfriends before I started dating John. I think it’s typically pretty difficult to remain friends with an ex…there are just so many strange variables involved. But I have had the luck of being able to remain friends with one of my exes (I hate to even use the term “ex” to describe him…he’s not an ex, he’s my friend) and I am taking this time to brag about him a little bit. Matt and I dated when I was a freshman in high school and we broke up shortly after I moved to Texas. We kept in touch through emails and facebook over the years. Even though I only talk to him every few months, I couldn’t hold him in higher regard. Matt has been studying for the last few years in Maryland to become a Priest. Next month he will be ordained into the diocese of Lincoln, Nebraska and I could not be more proud to call this wonderful Man of God my friend.
Matt. With an elephant…who is wearing some sort of bracelet.
Congratulations, Matt. God has amazing things in store for you and I know your hard work these past few years will be a blessing to so many people and will bring so much glory to Him who called you to this exciting life. I wish John and I could be there for your special day but since we can’t, we’ll be cheering you on from Texas. Congratulations 4N6Addict. :)
2 Comments:
I remember being there as Matt became an Eagle Scout. How far he has come since then!
Wow... 1) you ARE a nerd, 2) I am as cool if not WAY cooler than mom, and 3) I am sure mom wished I was a little LESS like her... I sure don't want my kids to do any of the things I did!
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