Moving Memories

I have been wandering my memory lane today. In a continuing effort to preserve my many boxes (seriously) of photographs, I have been downloading them onto my computer and saving them to disc. Whenever I have done this, I have found myself enjoying memories of past laughter and good times.

Today's box of goodies included the various places that I have lived over the years. Being the child of an IBM executive, I can attest to the fact that while many people believe that IBM stands for the company "International Business Machines", during the years of my childhood, they stood for I've Been Moved ... many times. We were like the military, we just didn't live on army bases. When friends would tell me about having lived in the same town all their lives or *gasp* the SAME house, this was something I simply could not conceive.

My childhood, youth, and adult memories have come from various houses, cities and states. Earliest memories of slick hardwood floors come from a little yellow house in Kansas City, Missouri. There are other early memories of getting a baby brother, going to school for the first time and visiting the Statue of Liberty that come from living in a little green and white house in Madison, New Jersy. Moving to Irving, Texas, for the first time, to a little cream and brown brick house, brings more memories of elementary school, a backyard pool, playing Barbies and transitioning to junior high while pushing the limits of my parents patience. Then came the move to a split level brown house with the coolest bedroom ever (see for yourself ... even the carpet was black/gray/white stripes), in Edina, Minnesota. It was here that I entered high school, learned to like hockey (and a certain teenage hockey player), learned to drive and learned that my closest friends could live further away than "down the street".

The move back to Irving, Texas was to a different cream brick house on a different street, as well as to memories of a little red and white Chevy Ventura, high school graduation, going to youth camp and on mission tour with the greatest bunch of church youth a teenager could be involved with, and beginning college.

My next move was not dictated by IBM, however. It was a move to Shawnee, Oklahoma, three more years of college, and memories of dorm rooms, apartments, classes, studying, working, meeting new people from all over the country and experiencing life "on my own". Leaving college, a brief time was spent back with my parents - still in Irving, Texas, however in a different brick house on a different street - and making different memories of taking care of the house for my working parents and getting a job that would change my life.

Then came the move that was totally my own decision. A move dictated by the job I had as a full-time (and then some) nanny to a child I loved. Her parents had decided to move from their home in Dallas to Austin and so it was that I moved from Irving to Austin, Texas. With this move came the memories of spending long days with a beautiful child and watching her grow, of wandering the streets of the Texas capital, playing in the parks, watching the zamboni clean the local ice arena, and living in various places - including a lovely lakeside house and my own apartment.

As my charge grew and became ready for school, the decision was made to move yet again - this time closer to my parents who, during my time in Austin, had moved yet again themselves. This move took me to Springfield, Missouri and a time making wonderful memories of lake filled days with friends and family, of helping my parents complete and move into their latest home and working in the last place I would have ever imagined myself ... a sporting goods store called Bass Pro Shops.

One more major move has taken place in my life and that was the one from Springfield to my current home in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Still, the memories, though newer, are not any less wonderful or enjoyable and while I may have lived here for longer than I have lived in any other city in my life, I must confess - I still kept moving. Outgrowing my first apartment and the memories of poolside days and making new friends in a city where I knew no one, I moved on to another apartment that was my home when my first girlie came to make memories of playing in the dirt, watching Lion King more times than should humanly be possible, Saturday mornings of pancakes and Saturday nights playing games with friends.

I do have one last move to report and that is to my current little house where I have been making memories for the last 10 years. This is the little house where I have lived the longest and the memories here are fresh, daily continuing to be made. It is here that my twink girlies have created their space - taking my designated craft room and making it their Barbie room, where, together with their older sister, we have enjoyed Valentine parties and putting up the Christmas tree, cuddling on the couch watching movies and making chalk pictures on the driveway.

Each of my many moves, whether dictated by IBM or by myself, have enriched my life with a multitude of memories. While I have photographs of many of these memories, there are so many more that are imprinted on my heart and in my mind. I just wish there were some way I could download these and share them with you as well.