I grew up in a small town in Abingdon, Virginia. I moved there when I was 5 because my parents split up. I remember being woken up at the crack of dawn and my Dad telling me to grab my favorite things, I wasn't sure why, but I grabbed my blanket and followed him to the car. My brother - Daniel and I sat in the car and waited for my Dad to finish loading the back of the truck. Then my Dad got into the car and started to drive away from the house, as we were driving away my Mom came running out of the house and chased us down the driveway until she couldn't any longer and fell to the ground on her knees crying. Truthfully not the greatest way to start a new life in another state, but that's how mine started.
We lived with my Grandmother who I call Granny, my Grandfather Papa, Aunt Pam, Uncle Adam, and my Cousin Cody. It was a big house, so it fit us all even though it seemed to always feel cramped. But that could also just be because my Grandmothers house was always filled with various family members, but those 5 were always there. Well, those 5 were always there up until my Uncle Adam passed away suddenly and tragically. You see he was a great person, with an awful addiction to various substances, and one day those substances took him in the middle of the night. It hit everyone hard when he left, but mostly it hit my Grandmother hard. Obviously one - because it was her son, but mainly - because she couldn't or didn't do anything to stop it from happening. Now, I'm going to change the subject to my awkward adolescent years before this gets too depressing.
I went to Meadowview Elementary School, which was honestly an amazing school. I remember loving every minute of it. My favorite teacher still to this day was Ms.Johnson, she was my Kindergarten teacher and she was just the sweetest lady who made every single day of class exciting and memorable. But, the one thing that was the most memorable was my first crushes. The main crushes I remember having were on two boys - Coy and Jarrod. Coy was every girls crush then, he was just the cutest (Still is), and Jarrod - while he had a good amount of girls after him too - I think I had time to wiggle myself in there - while Coy, I more so just gawked at him from the sidelines. I honestly don't remember if I ever "dated" Jarrod, but I know I tried. Looking back now I'm not sure if I made a good impression since in my 3rd grade yearbook he wrote,"Don't go wild in 4th grade." As I am typing this I'm actually remembering that Coy threw crickets on me and that's why now I can't have crickets near me at all. Little asshole, why'd I like you?! Even after he threw crickets on me I still went and drew a heart around his picture in my yearbook. Redheads really are crazy.
Speaking of crazy, whose bright idea was it to give me a dirt bike under the age of 10? Oh yeah, my Fathers! You see, he wasn't around that much, and when he was around he made up for the fact that he wasn't around by buying me crazy gifts or taking me to do crazy things. He thought that one memorable day made up for having very little memories with him at all. Which it doesn't - in case you were wondering - but it did lead to some good times and good memories at least. One of my favorite good memories but not so good time was when he gave me my very own dirt bike. My Dad and I bonded over motorcycles, so it made sense that he would think a dirt bike is a good gift, but for a child, not so good because it's not so safe. Well as a kid, I didn't even think about how it would hurt me instead I just hopped my tiny butt onto the bike, no helmet, no pads, no nothing, and yanked the gas petal as hard as I could. I knew what the gas petal was, because I rode behind my dad and always payed attention to how the right one made us go fast, but I didn't care to pay attention to how we slowed down - so I had no idea how to stop. Here I am, going about 15 - 20mph zooming around in my front yard, screaming because I have no idea how I am suppose to get off the bike. Solution? I drove my brand new bike, into a bush/tree. The funniest part of this story to me is that no one could be mad at me because no one thought about the fact that I was a child and wouldn't completely understand my brand new toy. That ladies and gentlemen is how I crashed and burned - literally - at riding a dirt bike for the first time by myself. Told you it didn't go well in my last Blog, didn't I? (If you haven't read it - go read it - how are you going to read the second one before the first one?!)
I stayed in Virginia and kept being awkward and breaking things until I was 10 years old and everything changed. Like I mentioned, we lived with my Grandparents and a few other family members, and my Dad finally thought it was time that we get our own place - but he didn't have the money to. He was a cop and sadly didn't make that much money. But one day was handed the opportunity of a lifetime and of course he took it. That opportunity was going to Iraq and training soldiers hand on hand combat. My Dad is sorta a badass Bruce Willis, with a bad mustache, so he fit the job perfectly. I had already talked about going to move with my Mom so it made sense instead of staying in Virginia with my Grandparents I go to Colorado and live with my brothers and Mom. My brothers switched where they lived, between Colorado or Virginia, but me - I stayed in Virginia the whole time. The change from living in a small country town to a huge city was a lot. But I think I handled it well and took it all in, because I loved it. The city life was for me - just as the country life was as well. I figured out a way to adapt in both areas and thrive. Which I hope - you - the reader can do as well no matter where you go and no matter what situation you are in.
From what you've read so far - you could probably guess that I have had a pretty crazy life. Which is true. I have and I assume I will continue to have. But through all the craziness I have learned to figure out a way to get past it all. Good and bad. It made me who I am and I am pretty damn proud of that person. I'm ready to look back at more of my crazy stories and fill you in on all the juicy details. Are you?
Stay tuned for my next Blog. Every Monday and Friday come join me while I reminisce on my life or just my daily thoughts, and again, thanks for reading.
Keep growing & glowing.
Kat Rae
