Who Will You Be...

Guess what time it is? It is Flashback Friday time. Linda over at Mocha with Linda has the prompt listed, then after you write about your memories remember to link back up so we can all enjoy them. It is a great way to meet new people and make some wonderful friends.

This week we are remembering what we wanted to be when we grew up. It is strange and kind of sad I do not remember having any goals or dreams about what I wanted to do when I grew up. As a young kid I remember the passing thought of maybe being a teacher or a nurse, but those thoughts did not take up residence in my life.

My mom and dad were wonderful parents, there was a lot of love in our home, it may not of been said a lot but they showed it in their own way and you could feel it. They did not see the big picture. They had come a long way, from being dirt poor in Arkansas to owning a nice home in a nice neighborhood in Illinois. They both had jobs and worked very hard. Dad was a cement laborer in construction working for someone else, and mom worked at Chicago Hardware & Fixture Co., a tool and die company. They worked hard for what they had and were proud of what they had overcome. Dad worked very long hours sometimes from sun-up to sundown 5 to 6 days a week. Mom worked 8 to 5 Monday through Friday. Mom had visions and hoped that I would join her at Chicago Hardware. She loved her job and was good at it, and she wanted so much to share that with me.

I may not of had visions of what I wanted to be, but I definitely knew what I didn’t want to do. My mom came home every night smelling like hot metal and oil. She had to wear a long thick coat kind of like a trench coat to protect her clothes and it would be stained black from the machines and it was permeated with that smell. On weekends she would spend hours picking metal shavings out of the bottoms of her shoes with a sharp knife. She loved her job; I on the other hand hated it. I hated that she had to work in conditions like that, but I hated it even more that she wanted me to do it.

I guess my goals or dreams were just doing something different. I concentrated on business classes in high school, and thanks to my sister-in-law, Pam, I landed a job at the A.O.H.A. (American Osteopathic Hospital Association) office in Park Ridge, Illinois, as an assistant. I worked there the summer between my Junior and Senior year then for a year or so after graduation.

The last 7 or 8 years I have thought how fun and rewarding it would be to do Motivational Public Speaking.

Imagine that, me talking?

Memories, you never know where they will take you, but Thank God you have them!

I hope you have a wonderful week; we will have a busy one. These old folks will be dragging by the end of the week. Our grandkids, Eden Jade and Cain Alan are spending the week with us. Should be fun! So please accept my apologies now if I do not comment this next week. I will get caught up one of these days.

until next time… nel