Brainstorming my Digital Story

1. A Positive Scene from Childhood
A positive scene from my childhood would be spending time with my grandparents. They used to pick me up every Friday after school and I was allowed to stay at their house until Sunday afternoons. My grandma taught me to cook, sew, and enjoy reading and my grandad taught me to "tinker" with tools and to garden. I remember them buying an old bus that they'd planned to fix up and use as a camper. It never ran but my Mamaw and Grandad let me use it as a playhouse. Many happy hours were spent in that bus when I was a little girl. I would pretend to drive on long trips, play house, and snuggle on the couch to read. I can't target a specific event from my childhood because I've blocked a lot of it out for psychological reasons but I do remember those weekends spent with my grandparents and my childhood play house as happy times. 

2.A Negative Scene from Childhood
A negative scene from my childhood would be when my mother left my father. I grew up in an abusive home and can't really remember a lot of things about my childhood because I've blocked a lot of those memories out. We lived in a farm house in a town that isn't far from where I reside with my family today. I'm not sure why we left that night. I just remember that my mom had  a few clothes for me, my brother, and her packed in clothes baskets in the back seat of our old blue station wagon. She drove that night to the next county to a women and children shelter which was intended to be a safe haven for abused women. I don't remember a lot about that place, but I do remember that my me, my mom, and my brother all had to sleep in the same room in the same bed because there were other families there like ours. I remember that they kept the doors and windows locked at all times in order to protect everyone. I also remember the paint smell and shiny white walls, and a nice lady that gave me books to read and school supplies because I'd had to leave everything of mine at home when we left dad. I remember being horribly frightened and unsure of what was going to happen. I think I may have been around six or seven when this happened. This event is important in my life because it signifies the unrest and reality of growing up in an abusive home. In that moment, on that day, I decided that I would never let anyone, especially a man, be mean or abuse me. I also decided that I wouldn't let my children grow up being scared and unsure of what would happen next. I have stuck with this promise to myself throughout my life. 

3. My Teen Years
An event from my teenage years that stands out in my memory is the night that I officially met my husband. I had just graduated from high school and was planning on leaving home and going to live and work with my grandparents in New York. My friend and I decided to go out to a party that we knew was going on that weekend at a local hang out location. When we got there, my (now husband) was already there with a bunch of his friends and had the stereo in his car blaring with a popular 90's tune. I remember the fire, the summer breeze, an alcohol buzz, and chatting with one of the nicest guys that I'd ever met while everyone partied and socialized. This is an important event in my life because that night I met the man that I knew that I would marry. We have rarely spent any time apart since then and I decided not to go to New York to live with my grandparents. In fact, I stayed right here in Pocahontas County and we were engaged three short months later and married the following July. We have five beautiful children together and have been married for twenty years. I plan on growing old with my souldmate and my best friend. 

4. My Adult Years
An important memory from my adult years was the death of my grandfather.  We were very close as I spent weekends with my grandparents growing up. I remember coming home from grocery shopping with my children and checking the answering machine here at home. I never check it, so I'm not sure why I did that day. My aunt had called and told me something was wrong and that I needed to call her back as soon as possible. When I did, and she told me what had happened...that grandad had a bleeding ulcer which had caused him to literally bleed to death from the inside I recall going through denial and asking her over and over if he was ok. In my mind, this man who was larger than life  to me couldn't be dead, When my aunt told me again that she was "sorry, he was gone" I panicked and sought out my husband. I remember going to the field where he was raking hay and screaming out that something was wrong. In my panicked state he thought that something had happened to one of our children.  This event was important to me because one of the most important men in my life was no longer there. No more calls to come and "fix" his tv when he just wanted us to visit, no more hanging out together on the patio on in his prized gardens. And this event led to another catastrophic event in my life when my mamaw, his wife of 50 years,  died only a few months later of colon cancer. She had been ill but after my grandads death she no longer wanted to live and didn't want to fight for her life. In effect, she died of a broken heart. This event has had a huge impact on me because two of the people that I loved and trusted the most and could always count on are no longer here.

5. A Turning Point
 A turning point in  my life would probably be when I moved back to West Virginia from Maryland when I was a teenager. I'd moved many times and attended many schools in states all over the east coast. I think that turning point, when I returned to the county and state of my birth, was when I decided that I didn't really like moving anymore and would try and avoid it if I could (subconsciously that's probably why I decided not to move to New York when I graduated).