years ago...

[jennickels]

I did this once on another site out of boredom.

I'm bored now.

30 years ago...

I was 4 years old living in Chicago with my parents and little brother...that year I would break my ankle jumping off my cousin's bunkbed in Michigan.  An important lesson I never forgot.

 

25 years ago...

I was 9 years old and finishing up the 3rd grade, living in Chicago in the same house my dad grew up in, going to the same school he went to (St. Augustine).  Our neighborhood wasn't easy but we still managed to have a fun time running all around.  I particularly loved going over to the Deli on Ashland Ave with my brother and buying chips and candy with our change.

 

20 years ago...

I was 14 and graduating from 8th grade at St. Mary Star of the Sea School.  I remember the Bulls had made their first bid for a championship and our priest was told to hurry up graduation to make sure there was enough time for people to make it home for the game, lol.  We had moved to the house my dad is living in now a couple years before that and I was so glad to be getting out of St. Marys (I hated that school).  I started at Mother McAuley High School later that fall.

 

15 years ago...

I was 19 and finishing up my 1st year at Truman State University.  I was dating a guy named David who I was totally in love with.  He was a bit neurotic but he put up with my craziness, lol.  That summer I went home and he came to visit for a week (and, yeah, we shared a bed at my parent's house...luckily my bedroom door locked, lol).  I was working at the school cafeteria and completely unsure of where my life was going.  The next school year I moved out of the dorms into my own apartment (much to my relief).

 

10 years ago...

I was 24 and married.  We had just celebrated our 1st anniversary in January and I was pregnant with our 2nd child.  Our oldest was 10 months old as of May 2001.  The previous year had been a crazy one with our wedding, moving (a couple of times), the birth of our first child and the death of my mother.  2001 was just as emotional.  Owen was born a few weeks after 9/11 to a forever changed world.  We were living with my dad in Chicago and my husband had been working for Southwest Airlines for like 7 months.

 

5 years ago...

I was 29 and living in Coraopolis, PA.  We had just had our 4th child, Nora, a month earlier and things were...tense.  I had a uterine infection and my relationship was strained.  My husband had hurt his back at work shortly after I got pregnant and had only been working off and on.  We had been struggling living off of OT/DT and suddenly found us living off of straight pay heading towards long term disability which wasn't even full wages.  We were basically screwed.  That seems like such a long time ago but it was only 5 years.  My other kids were turning 6, 4 1/2 and 3 1/2.  Wow.

 

3 years ago...

I was 31 and once again living at my dad's house in Chicago.  The kids were going on 8, 6 1/2, 5 1/2 and just turned 2.  The September before my husband and I had separated for six weeks but had somehow managed to patch things up and had a much better, stronger relationship.  He finally had surgery on his back in April 08 after 2+ years of pain and red tape run around from Worker's Comp.  He now had screws and rods in his lower back fusing his spine.  When it gets cold it gives him all sorts of pain.  Things were great but they were headed towards better.  We started bankruptcy proceedings which lifted a huge weight off of me and our relationship.  I can't believe that was only 3 years ago.

 

1 year ago...

I was 33 and very pregnant with my youngest, Jack.  And basically on my own.  My husband had decided, despite my protests and arguments, to transfer to Portland, OR (we were living in Chicago but he was stationed in Milwaukee, WI).  In April he left with our only vehicle.  I was on my own with the 4 kids (then almost 10, 8 1/2, 7 1/2 and just turned 4) and no car.  I was in my 3rd trimester and had to walk to and from the local grocery store every other day for food.  My dad got his car sort of running a month before my due date...luckily because we had that horrible heat wave and it was in the upper 90s.  Taking the bus (which meant walking 1/2 mile or so to the bus stop) sucked.  I was miserable and doubting whether our relationship could last the separation.  It did.  Eventually my due date arrived in July and my husband came back for the birth and then we all drove to WA...the craziest adventure we've ever had, lol.

 

this year...

I'm 34 and getting along pretty good.  My depression is mostly in control (mostly being the operative word).  My relationship is pretty good for the first time in 12 years it seems.  The kids are great...healthy and happier than ever at almost 11, 9 1/2, 8 1/2, just turned 5 and almost 10 months.  They drive me nuts but there has been far less fighting and craziness since we moved.  They have tons of friends and a great school...it's all I ever wished for.

 

one year from now...

I'll be 35! (EEK).  Hoping things will be going just as smoothly but with my oldest approaching 12 and the other kids being 10 1/2, 9 1/2, 6 and almost 2...I can't imagine anything but craziness, lol.

 

3 years from now...

I'll be 37.  The kids will be turning 14, 12 1/2, 11 1/2, 8 and almost 4.  Wow, that's kind of hard to imagine and it's only 3 years away.  I'm hoping we're still living here but since my husband never shuts up about moving somewhere else...I doubt it.  It kills me because this is the place I want to settle and raise the kids.  They love it here.  They have so many friends and things are just great here.  I'm so tired of having a life up in the air all the time.

 

5 years from now...

I'll be 39 (oy, I don't want to think of that) with TEENAGERS: going on 16, 14 1/2, 13 1/2, 10 and almost 6.  It's a time in my life I'm dreading...3 teenagers, 1 preteen and a kindergartener.  Ugh.  It's going to be insane.

 

10 years from now...

I'm not even sure I can imagine that far into the future.  I'll be 44.  The kids would be turning 21, 19 1/2, 18 1/2, 15 and going on 11.  College kids, high school kids, middle school kids.  It's beyond comprehension right now.  It seems so far in the future but then I think how 10 years ago doesn't seem that long.  It's all flown by.

 

15 years from now...

I'll be 49 and approaching the age my mother died (51).  That's a scary thought.  I could be a grandmother by then with my kids at 25, 24, 23, 20 and 15.

 

20 years from now...

I'll be 54.  The kids would be 30, 29, 28, 25 and 20.  Yeah, beyond my realm of comprehension.

 

30 years from now...

I'll be 64.  The same age as my father is now.  That's a weird thought.  I find it amazing how different our lives will be.  My dad is 64, widowed and only has 2 kids (ages 34 and 32).  I'll be 64, hopefully sill married (by then it will have been for 41 years) and with 5 kids who will be 40, 39, 38, 35 and 30.  I assume I'll long since have become a grandmother.  Probably with more grandchildren than I can count.