Lessons from Sharon

If you asked me years ago to describe Sharon, I would have told you she is my sister's friend. My older sister and Sharon were classmates in band together. But thanks to social networking, I can now honestly say she is MY friend, too.
My memories of Sharon are mostly from when she would come over to the house. I don't know why in my memories she is always in a band uniform. I don't claim to have a photographic memory, it does strange things all on its own. I CAN say that my memory is accurate in remembering Sharon ALWAYS smiling. In fact, when I saw her most recently and she was overwhelmed at seeing my sister again after 20 years, it seemed strange to see her crying. Not that she shouldn't have been, or that she's not capable of emotion, but that her laughter has always been a stand-out characteristic for me.
My favorite memory is one my sister Angela shared with me after a high school band field trip. Angela is a unique person. She has a sense of humor, but she is more often the one laughing until she snorts instead of the one telling the jokes. Angela HATES to be the center of attention. She is usually pretty reserved. Yet Angela regaled me with the story of Sharon sitting in the back of the bus smacking the ends of cardboard applicators turning innocent tampons into missiles. It still makes me smile just knowing that Sharon could help my sister see the humor in life, and not be embarrassed to do crazy things. I guess I never thanked her for that, but now she knows.
With this great sense of humor, nothing has made her laugh harder than "South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut." When sad, the memory of her now-deceased dog Jack can always make her smile. Jack LOVED the song “The Last Shanty.” It’s a sea shanty by the Celtic group Great Big Sea, and whenever it played, he’d run into the room and just wiggle.

Sharon became a mother recently. She described getting pregnant and being pregnant as one of her biggest challenges in life. There were so many things that could go wrong and did go wrong, but with a little faith, a lot of research and a grain of salt, she ended up with a marvelous little boy. I can tell you her son is adorable, but if you gave me 1000 words to do it in, it would still not do this baby justice. He is C-U-T-E! You don't have to spend a lot of time around her, or read too far into her blogs or her profile to see just how enamored with this child she truly is. To read her words and look at her pictures is to watch a woman fall in love with motherhood; every wonderful, scary, beautiful moment of it.
In her own words, Sharon is  lots of things. She’s a washed-up, gimpy has-been of an athlete. She’s a mom fumbling through her son’s childhood. She’s a teacher and a leader who knows there’s an example to be set, and who works hard to see that it’s set. She’s a decent singer, but a terrible dancer. She’s had a lot of accomplishments, but also has a lot of regrets. She’s up to her eyeballs in debt, but she’s happy.
Sharon's always inspired by people who accomplish goals by working hard, and stay classy while doing so. They can be celebrities, professional athletes, or just regular people. A couple of people who come to mind are Jerry Rice, who was always a class act, and her friend Christy Harvey, who just lost a ton of weight and ran the River Run. Sharon's biggest inspiration is her mother, whom she describes as "just plain amazing."  She knows her son will turn out okay, if she can even be half the parent her mom was for her.

Sharon is a physical fitness instructor at a local private school. She definitely has a passion for what she does! I watched a video she posted on Facebook of her 8th grade class performing the dance to "Thriller" for the school. My instant reaction was "why couldn't we do that when I was in 8th grade??" She seems to have found many innovative ways to make phys ed interesting and fun. When I asked her whose life she's made the biggest impact on, her answer was "I wish I knew. There are so many children on whom I wish I’d made a greater impact, and sometimes, I just can’t tell." This made me realize that even though teachers spend so much time with our children, and many of them have enormous impact on our lives and our children's lives, sometimes being a teacher must seem to be a thankless job. We should all strive to say thank you more to everyone in our lives that makes a difference.
If money weren't an object, Sharon would be happy running a full-time taekwondo school. Either that, or she’d be a writer. The incentive of being able to write on her own time makes it a definite draw.
She admits to being  afraid of the dark, and the spooky creatures that her imagination tells her lurk there. At the age of 7, she  saw a clip from “Halloween” on Siskell & Ebert, and it terrified her. This caused her to peek around corners everywhere she went. At night she would sneak into her parents’ room and sleep on the floor next to their bed. "I’m pretty sure that fear is the reason I’m an only child," Sharon told me.
I am so grateful that she was willing to share a little of herself with me for this blog. She is to-the-point and humble, and I am certain my description of her may make her a bit uncomfortable, if only because she doesn't want to be in the spotlight. She's much more comfortable sitting in the background letting her son shine. She is a reminder to me that I should fall in love with my children every time I see their faces.
I asked Sharon to predict her future. In a combination that shows both her humility and her humor, she replied, "Reply hazy, try again later."  I predict that no matter what, Sharon will be on the move. Her son will be making her proud through his ventures in sports and academics. She will still be sharing her enthusiasm for athleticism and her laughter with as many people as she can reach. And I would be willing to bet that sometime soon, she will be made aware of more than one young person's life on which she has had a definite impact.

The note that's going to start it all...

As I was falling asleep last night, reflecting once more on my deep desire to start writing SOMETHING... ANYTHING...I came up with an idea. After ruminating on it for a day, I finally realized that I was ready to take on the challenge. Over the past few days since I began this blog, I have thought of sitting down to type, but alas I had no computer, and there was no way I could get it all out using the tiny keypad on my phone. But I realized so much of what I had to write about were my frustrations and my stressors. While venting in that manner may have proved cathartic for me, it was going to in no way be constructive or helpful to anyone who might chance upon my words. Hell, I might kill someone's dream of becoming an optometrist, or convince some unsuspecting couple to never reproduce. I thought about the power words have to heal or destroy, and how much it has always mattered to me when I learned I was not alone or that I was, on some level, understood. Then I thought of all the diverse and wonderful friends I have on Facebook. And the struggles we have each faced. And the successes we have each celebrated. And how much I truly don't know about the very people from whom I draw energy, even if its just a smile from a funny link or an adorable baby picture. So tonight I posted this note for all of them to see, and I am waiting to see what happens. This could be good...  :)
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I WANT TO WRITE ABOUT YOU!! YES YOU!!! READ THIS NOTE TO LEARN MORE!!




so a few years ago i had the idea to write a book. i was going to call it "the corner table" and then find a quaint restaurant, pick a table, and then interview and find out the interesting life stories of the people who happened to sit there. it was born from the idea that i know no strangers. my family is always amazed at how quickly i can make a fast friend, and how much information i can glean from people (often without prompting them), whether its in line at disney, or on a flight somewhere. it is often in those instances i learn amazing stories of love, survival, conflict, faith, strength, etc. it is uplifting, and as an extrovert, it "feeds" me.



well, i don't think i will ever have the time to sit and interview people in a restaurant, and i rarely have a recorder handy when these amazing strangers move me to laughter and tears. so it dawned on me: i have nearly 8 zillion friends on facebook. each of you has a story. each of you has successes and failures, advice, humor, love, and pain.



now, i know some of it is VERY private, and i would never dream of invading those spaces. but what i AM interested in, is helping those i love (and even a random stranger) realize that they are not alone. that we all have our challenges. and to maybe just maybe connect someone with that one word of inspiration and/or advice that they need to make a change in themselves for the better. maybe it'll be something as simple as helping someone smile today. or find a nice restaurant or book. i dunno. i'm not delusional about what this blog will mean, but i think it stands the chance to be powerful for me.



so, if you are willing to allow me to "interview" you, by sending you a list of random questions, please send me a note or respond to this note with a "like" or a comment. of course, you have the option of not answering something i ask you, and i will do my best to be unobtrusive. the questions may run the gamut from "what is your first memory from childhood?" to "describe for me a challenge you faced in life and the lessons it taught you." if you'd like, i can even make it anonymous and change your name to protect the innocent :) ....just send me a private e-mail if thats your choice, ok?



i'm optimistic. i'd like to do this. who knows, i may randomly pick some of you just to see what i get. :)



THANKS GUYS!!!

Starting a Blog...July 19, 2010

So, after reading a few facebook posts from my friend Sharon I have decided to start a blog. This could be interesting...

I have a tendency to ramble. And bitch. But I also enjoy celebrating the things that make me happy or that I enjoy immensely. I hope to maybe share a bit of the craziness that is my life along the way.

Let's start with the basic "big moments" about me in a lovely little timeline:

1974: Born in San Diego, CA at Balboa Naval Hospital (I joined older sister, Angela)
1976: Moved to Ewa Beach, HI (little sister, Jeanette, came not too long after)
1980: Moved to Jacksonville, FL
1991: Moved to St. Louis in July. Learned I was preggers in September. Married John in October. Moved to Maine in October.
1992: Had my first baby, Desirae, in March. Graduated Hall Dale High in June.
1994: Second baby, Kaylin, born in August
1996: Moved to Maryland. Started St. Mary's College in June
1999: Graduated St. Mary's with a BA in Biology in June. Moved to Pennsylvania. Began Pennsylvania College of Optometry in September.
2000: My son, Reagan, born in January. PCO inexplicably awards me a BS in Visual Science this year.
2003: Graduated PCO with my OD in May
2005: My fourth baby, Ava, born in June
2006: Moved to Jacksonville, FL (well, Orange Park)
2010: Began this blog

With a Navy husband, an often-times bipolar mom, a waaaaay to OCD dad, a career that is overly demanding, 2 teenage girls, an uber-mathlete son, a diva of a pre-schooler, and 2 dogs, there is precious little that can be predicted in my life. I hope some days to share the humor, others the tears. Mostly I'll share the observances of my day-to-day (my husband says I should publish a book of the random things I overhear in public restrooms), and my frustrations of dealing with the public.

So check in often....and welcome to the roller coaster that is my life!