Memories, Hopes, and Dreams

I have a box of things that belonged to me as a young girl. It's interesting to compare what I valued then to what I value now. Then I valued worldly things: my favorite comic strips, things I made, accomplishments, things I wore, and fan club memorabilia. What I value today isn't so tangible. Things I value now are things in my character like patience, kindness, mercy, and love. In today's world, I also value these things:

• I love to learn. There are many ways to learn including from experiences, from books, from people, from music, from ideas, from seeing - hearing - touching - tasting - smelling things, from emotions, and from thinking. (I'm sure there are other ways to learn but these things are what came to me.) Learning expands my mind.
• I love things that inspire me. It wouldn't matter if I couldn't see inspiring things with my eyes because I would see them with my mind.
• I love the positive, the optimistic, and the good. I'm glad to see good things, not just the negative, the pessimistic, and the bad. I hope for things and have faith in good outcomes. I believe in the best.

Tangible things have value and they also don't. They don't because I can't take them with me when I die. They do because they remind me of people or my goals. I appreciate my old things, they aren't reminders of the future but are reminders of my youth.

Remembering a Long Time Ago

This is me 11 years ago. So many things caused me to change including that I wanted enlightenment, serenity, and happiness...not stress. I wanted those things so much that I was willing to give up some things I loved. At the time I worked in a strip-mall behind McDonald's and several times I went there before or after work. I was willing to not go to McDonald's because I wanted enlightenment, serenity, and happiness more.

My favorite restaurant (Tequila Harry's) was across the street and several times I went there with my friend. I was willing to not go to Tequila Harry's because I wanted enlightenment, serenity, and happiness. I replaced my old habits with new ones and they helped me get my goal. Giving up those places brought other things into my life that led to much enlightenment, serenity, and happiness.

Changing is hard-I know! But it's also a leap of faith that brings what I really want into my life. For years I wished for things to be different, but that time I did things that brought about differences...and much happiness.

Journaling is Important

I have a journal from 1958 that belonged to my Great-Grandma Clark. As I've read her words they have allowed me to know her more than just her name and the dates when she was born, married, and died. Her journal has also let me know her character and the kind of person she was.

During that trip in 1958 she:

• Sailed from America to England on the Queen Mary
• Met some of her relatives in England
• Attended the London, England LDS Temple dedication
• Did much genealogy in England before going to the European continent
• Went to the Worlds Fair in Brussels, Belgium
• Toured the European continent (Belgium, The Netherlands, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Italy, and France)
• Did much genealogy in England after going to the European continent
• Sailed from England back to America on the Queen Elizabeth
• Visited her brother in Cleveland, OH, USA

I am very much like Grandma Clark. We're both alike in these ways:

-Religious

-Tall

-Left-handed

-The oldest child

-Creative

-Love facts

-Love people

-Want to know about ancestors

-Independent

-Do what we want

I wouldn't have known so much about her if she hadn't kept a journal. She recorded many of the things said at the LDS Temple dedication; I know now that people say many of the same things today. I admire her tenacity because when she kept a journal she wrote every day. Sometimes she wrote just one sentence, nevertheless even that tells me something about her. She's been dead for more than 30 years, and I'm grateful to get to know her in the next best way (through her words) because she died when I was too young to appreciate her life. The things I have of hers mean more to me now because I know her better. Journaling helps me and it also helps my posterity to know me. I'll live on because of my words and truly become more than just a name on a page. UPDATE: If you want to read Grandma Clark's words see April 30th.

The Totally Awesome 80's!

The 80's may be old but they were my teenage years! I remember them because I lived them. The 80's are old now, but they were cool then. I remember seeing Karate Kid in the theater and thinking that Mr. Miagi and Daniel were really cool. 

I saw many movies in the theater like Superman, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, The Empire Strikes Back, Return of the Jedi, Ghostbusters, Home Alone, Splash!, Wall Street, E.T., Poltergeist, Savannah Smiles, Wind Walker, The Little Mermaid, Who Framed Roger Rabbit?, Pretty in Pink, The Breakfast Club, Cocoon, Short Circuit, The Princess Bride, Something Wicked This Way Comes, Rambo, Rocky 4, The Terminator, Red Dawn, Popeye, Highlander, The Dark Crystal, Little Shop of Horrors, Tootsie, Sixteen Candles, Aliens, 2001 A Space Odyssey, Adventures in Babysitting, Top Gun, Back to the Future, Flashdance, Footloose, Good Morning Vietnam, Beaches, Steel Magnolias, Tron, The Golden Child, Mannequin, The Secret of My Success, Die Hard, Beverly Hills Cop, Friday the 13th, Airplane, Caddyshack, Pee Wee's Big Adventure, Star Trek: The Wrath of Kahn, Dirty Dancing, Ferris Buelller's Day Off, The Goonies, and many more. 

Yes, things have evolved since back then but I can say that I had the old things. I had a record player in my room. Records were the "in" thing and I still have my records of Rick Springfield, Chicago 17, West Side Story (sound track,) and a 45 of Michael Jackson singing "Billie Jean". Even though I had a few cassette tapes I had mostly records as a teenager.

I watched The Love Boat, The Bionic Man, Wonder Woman, M*A*S*H, Charlie's Angels, Saturday morning cartoons, and many more shows on a brown TV with rabbit ears. There was no cable or 24 hour TV. Many times my sister and I awoke before our show came on and turned the TV on to snow or colored bars. Our TV had no remote control to change the channel. To view a different station, we had to turn the dial (and hope that the noise wouldn't awake our parents!)

70's TV with snow

Color bars

Now that the 80's are over, I can see a definite look. I didn't notice the amount of makeup people wore (even men!) The business in the front, party in the back hair style was cool. A lot of women wore the fashion of Flashdance or the look of Madonna and most men looked clean cut.

I loved the 80's; it was a coming-of-age time for me. I love to see the cheesy shows of that time because it brings back memories. When I see something on a website from the 80's I think, oh ya! and smile.