Way back last month Geo posted a meme that I wanted to do but couldn't find time. Well, now I am making time, and I may have to write in segments, but I'm gonna do it.
What Were You Doing 10 Years Ago?In November 1998, I had just moved back to AZ after a very brief stint in Utah post-graduation. I was hanging out at the condo again, with University Ward friends, the Wright Brothers, Tom, Lyz, Nic, Adriane, etc...working at alphagraphics and in a reading lab at U of A, registering for some graduate classes. On November 25, 1998, I see that I went to see
Life is Beautiful with Aaron and Andrew Wright, at my suggestion, and we all agreed it was the best movie we had ever seen. Here is a journal excerpt from around that time:
My thoughts seem to be around my ankles today
Over the weekend they
passed before me like a tired
parade...
There he stood
And he smiled
and he gave me just a taste of it
And he pulled me out of my head
And he
reached into me
And he took me far from here...
-Sun 60
Man, the Leonid meteor shower sure did work its mojo in the Old Pueblo last night! Lyzzie met a nice molecular bio student sitting onthe hood of his car in Reddington Pass...ahhh! Jamie (that' s me) stepped out of her convent and had a night of cinematic love...Dig, if you will: Midnight on the trampoline under clear, starry skies. The air is crisp, 45 degrees, and I am snuggled up with all the boys listening to "Dark Side of the Moon" and suddenly I am drawn to X like a magnet, so we snuggle like crazy...X says we're friends and he doesn't want anyone to get hurt or anything, and I say, "Rock on, dude, kiss me anyway," so he does and I can live on that for weeks.
21 NOV 98/10am:...I am waiting for Adriane. She and Celeste and I are going
to see the wedding dress she chose. It should be super fun cuz I love those
girls. 2pm: Home from the girly date with joyous news! (a) Adriane found a
dreamy dress and (b) Celeste is pregnant and due in July!
It really was a weird time in my life, but also very fun, with a steep learning curve. In retrospect, of course, I can totally see the scene being set for me to meet Rich almsot two years later, but it all seemed like a twisting, crazy road while I was on it!
What Were You Doing 20 Years Ago?
November 1988 was about the middle of the worst year of my life so far. Even 20 years later I feel sick just thinking about it. I had just turned 17, my parents were divorcing, and suffice it to say that my prayers usually consisted of about 10 minutes of crying and then asking Heavenly Father to please take me back, to let me die.
However, even with all the sadness, there was the beginning of my knowledge that God is always looking out for me. At the end of that month, my grandparents unexpectedly came home from their mission in Africa because my grandmother had contracted a nearly-fatal case of malaria. To my great relief and joy, they arrived home in time for Thanksgiving, and boy did I give thanks. While comparing notes with my grandmother, we found that within a matter of hours of each other, both of us had admitted defeat in life's trials: I was kneeling with an unbearably heavy heart at my bedside in Arizona, and she was lying--deathly ill and helpless--in a hospital bed in England. As we both begged for relief, Heavenly Father told her, "You have to go home and save the children."
So she did.
What Were You Doing on 9/11?
We were living in Draper, just married 7 months, 7 months pregnant. We were awakened around 7am by a call from my little brother Michael, who was home in California while my mom & stepdad were in Ohio. He was watchign teh news and was scared about the attacks, and about our brother Matt, who was serving a mission in New York City. We switched on the Today show and watched just after the second plane hit. The first words out of my mouth were, "Osama bin Laden"--seriously! Just a minute or two after we turned on the TV, President Bush came on and said it was an apparent terrorist attack.
I was horrified and worried about my brother. My parents were supposed to fly home to Cali from Ohio that day. I didn't want to go to work. I was supposed to write all these motivational, inspiring emails touting our company's big upcoming reward weekend at the Grand Wailea, and I didn't think it was going to happen with all the air traffic stopped. I called my work and they made me come in anyway.
Driving from Draper to Lindon was spooky. The highway was almost empty and the sky was, too. I spent the morning on the phone with my brother, the missionary in NYC (he was at the laundromat in Harlem watching the smoke and ash fill Manhattan), and I sent out those stupid emails. My whole afternoon was spent writing a NEW email postponing the reward weekend (duh). "Sunday Bloody Sunday" by U2 ran through my head all day long..."I can't close my eyes and make it go away..."
The most difficut thing was attending my first childbbirthing class at Alta View hospital that night. Everyone in the class was visibly shaken about bringing babies into an obviously different world. And I think we had good reason: although my daughter has enjoyed a happy home and family, her country has been at war her entire life. She knows about terrorists and jihad and supporting the troops and threat levels, all things I never knew as a Cold War kid.
What Were You Doing 5 Years Ago? That's easy--you can read about it HERE.
What Were Doing 1 Year Ago?-Click HERE.
Yesterday:
Today:
Tomorrow:
Here are the Melin kids before church today...so sweet.
