Brainstorming the Digital Story

1.      Please describe a positive scene from childhood in detail. What led up to this event? When and where did it happen? Who was involved? What were you thinking and feeling? Why is it an important event? What impact did it have on you?

The happy moments, hmmmm, the day my missing cat appeared at school, 2 miles from home.  Angel had been missing for 7 days.  Apparently, she hitched a ride to town.  Then there were the infrequent walks to the top of the hill where I would hide to read a book.  I could also talk about the litter of Irish Setter puppies that made me smile. 

I will share the details of a friendship that has had a major impact upon my life in a very unusual way.  When I was 12 years old a new family moved in down the street.  The purchased an old run down brick house and commenced to renovate it.  There family consisted of Mom, Dad, Chris and John.  John was gorgeous and older than I.  For a girl of twelve he was dreamy.  His sister Chris, well, she was to become a guiding force in my life.

Chris was born with spinbifida and was a quadriplegic.  She was very high functioning and was very artistic and fascinating.  Especially to a 12 year old, unpopular fat girl.  This was about 1977 and I remember Christ tell me about attending school at Kent State University, where she was a student during the riots.

Chris had two crafts that I was able to help her with.  One was copper enameling.  She had a small electric kiln and used copper and pigment powders to create elaborate designs.  I remember her telling me how difficult it was because she had to be extra careful as she had such poor sensory perception in her lower extremities that she could cause severe burns.  Because of the nature of the craft, I was relegated to the role of spectator.

Her second craft was rag rug weaving.  I remember spending hours sitting by her side at the loom, helping her create practical works of art.  For Christmas my parents purchased me a rigid heddle loom and my love affair with weaving was sealed.

2.      Please describe a negative scene from childhood in detail. What led up to this event? When and where did it happen? Who was involved? What were you thinking and feeling? Why is it an important event? What impact did it have on you?

I’ve thought on this assignment for the last week, and I would like to “take the fifth.”  There are many unhappy and even traumatic experiences from my childhood.  In general I do not reflect upon the early part of my life.  While it would be an over exaggeration to say that I have given the sum total of the happy times of my early childhood in the paragraphs above, it is not a stretch to say, that there are not many more.  For the sake of this assignment, I’m not willing to explore that chapter of my life in depth.

3.      Describe a particular event from your teen-aged years that stands out in your memory today. This can be positive or negative. What led up to the event? What happened? Where and when? Who was involved? What were you thinking and feeling? Why is it an important event? What impact did the event have on you.

February 1983. I with 3 dozen other students were gathered in the Study Hall of Perry High School for a meeting with our Speech & Theatre coach to go over the spring musical.  I was excited as this was my year, I was the Senior Student Directory and this was my time to shine.  To be a part of something strong, powerful, and memorable. 

I was no longer the unhappy, disliked, fat kid.  When my family moved my Freshman year I was given a new start, a new life and I had made the most of it.  I was not the most popular kid in school, but I ran with the “in crowd” and I had found my place in the world.  I had become involved in speech & theatre, and had become passionate about a service organization called Key Club.  That passion had led to my election as a club officer, a district officer, and finally selection as Chairman of the annual state conference.

The news of the planning meeting was not pleasant.  The date had been set for the Spring Musical, but unexpectedly the date had to be changed.  The new date was the same weekend as my Key Club State Conference.  I remember sitting there, listening to “Louie” (the teacher) explain why and all I could do was cry.  I remember his stopping his talk and asking if I was ok, I simply said, “yes”.  After the meeting was over and I explained the problem we reached a compromise.  I would continue to serve as senior student director, but I would work from an administrative role and the junior student director would be more hands on. 

This was the first, but not the only, time in my life that I was conflicted about multiple commitments and having to make choices.  Often when I am faced with major choices about multiple commitments I think back to that evening and then try to figure out a way to compromise to make both situations work.

4.      Describe a vivid or important memory from any time in your adult years. Again, this can be positive or negative. It can be about anything – family, work, whatever. The scene stands out in your mind today as being especially vivid or important. Please describe what led up to the event. Then describe the scene in detail. What happened? Where and when? Who was involved? What were you thinking and feeling? Why is it an important event? What impact has the event had on you?

“The artists should be inside.” Said Jeff Grenham, my pottery professor.  I just chuckled and stepped inside the Boggess Gallery.  It was a bit of a shock, I had never been called an “artist” before, and I wasn’t sure what he meant by it. 

I had enjoyed two semesters of pottery with Jeff and had poured my heart and soul into the clay.  Each spring, on the campus of Fairmont State there is a juried art show.  The art show is open to all students on campus, irregardless of their major and as I had been particularly creative I entered three pieces into the show.  One was a handwoven, blue tencel scarf, another was a mixed media piece that combined my love for pottery with weaving, and the third was a bowl that I had crafted in pottery.

I had experimented with a variety of glazing combinations to achieve a particular look.  I was intrigued with the combination of two glazes and the shape of the vessel.  A short time before the show I was stopped by another pottery student while up on campus.  He wanted to tell me how “cool” my bowl was.  At that point, I had no idea what he was talking about.  Yes, I knew that the kiln was supposed to be unloaded that day, but I had not had a chance to go check on the pots. 

The incredible orange/gold/black bowl that emerged from the kiln that day made me believe in “kiln gods,” because on that day they smiled on me.  That bowl will always be special to me, because of it and the “kiln gods,” that I, a non-art major, won “First Place in 3D art” at a juried art show and was called an artist by a man whose art I respect. 

5.      In looking back on your life, you may be able to identify particular “turning points” – episodes through which you experienced an important change in your life. Please choose one key turning point scene and describe it in detail. If you feel your life story contains no clear turning points, then describe a particular episode in your life that comes closer than any other to qualifying for a turning point – a scene where you changed in some way. Again, please describe what led up to the event, what happened in the event, where and when it happened, who was involved, what you were thinking and feeling, and so on. Also, please tell me how you think you changed as a result of this event and why you consider this event to be an important scene in your life story today.

June 2007.  My son had just graduated from high school.  I was talking with a longtime, elderly friend about his future.  He was planning on attending Fairmont State and I was looking for a place to live.  My daughter was getting married, my son was moving off to go to college, and I did not need to continue to live in a 2,000 square foot house.

My friend, Julia, asked what my plans were.  Through the course of the conversation I made the comment that I had always planned on going to college after my son, Charlie, graduated from high school.  So she told me, “do it.”  Long story short, because of the support and encouragement my son and I started college on the same day.  He dropped out part way through the first semester, and four years later I walked the stage and received my diploma, making a 30 year dream come true.