Mary has already traced this meme to the fifth generation. Impressive! I’m a delayed first generation post. The rules are self-explanatory, but you can read the details at Mary’s original post.
Quick: What were you doing ten, twenty and thirty years ago?
Do you want to know my answers?
Ten years ago: 1997. I was in my second year of teaching and my last year of college. Married for two years, my wife and I lived in a rat infested apartment and paid the bills with scholarships, a job at a video store (me), job at a campus bookstore (her), a job teaching private school (me again), and her grandparent’s generosity.
Teaching was already part of my self-identification. I went to classes at Texas A&M Tuesday/Thursday, and taught at St. Michael’s Academy Monday/Wednesday/Friday. What classes you ask? Ancient History (5th grade), Latin I (6th), Latin II (7th), Latin III (8th-9th), Latin IV (10th-12th). Fun times.
Twenty years ago: I was thirteen years old and living in Enid, Oklahoma. Those were not good years for me in general. But that particular year, my eighth grade year at Waller Middle School, wasn’t all bad.
My English teacher asked me to be the editor of the school newspaper. Who knew her decision would have such a profound impact on me? Also, she is the person who taught me grammar. After her class, I understood how sentences work.
My science teacher encouraged me to enter the science fair. I had a project on the mathematical formula that explains the relationships between wavelengths of musical notes. Then I wrote a little computer program on our Amiga computer that ran that turned the formula into an ascending scale. Yeah, I won the state competition, but I’m not proud or anything.
Thirty years ago: Um, I was three. We lived in Greensboro Goldsboro, North Carolina. (Thanks, Dad, for the correction.) I don’t remember anything about the place except that my sister was born there. It is my earliest memory not linked to a photograph. In those days, the kids still couldn’t visit mom and the new sibling in the hospital room. So my dad had to hold me up to the window of her door so I could see my baby sister. Love you, Renee.
Because this meme emphasizes reflection on daily life, I’m going to tag the new folks in our HighCallingBlog.com community. (We have over 65 bloggers now!)
- Dennis Larkin of Graced Preacher (any friend of Lady Jane Grey is a friend of mine)
- Steve Gibson of Gibson Direct (I consider Steve one of my mentors whether he likes it or not)
- Every Square Inch (I’d love to hear a vocational spin on this meme from you)
- Rachel Lusky of Pure Motif (she even helped design the color scheme of a train!)
- Sarah Martin of Lady Jane Grey (she’s the cellist that I told L.L.’s daughter to listen to)
- Tom Petersen of His Work in Progress (a great funny writer)
- Seth Jones of Slow Boat from Adramyttium (with a title like that, I’m dying to know this guy better)
- Rob and David of Red Letter Believers (you guys are so focused on your blog, I’m amazed!)
- L. L. Barkat of Seedlings in Stone (this woman is one talented writer! Say hi to John for me.)
And Craver, Halfmom, if you haven’t been tagged on this, I’d love to hear what you all were up to over the past thirty years.
Oops. It looks like I got tag happy. I guess I just like this meme. It fits the kind of reflection we hope people will do when they think about the high calling of their daily work.
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