YAY me!!
YAY you - for hanging in with me here. Thank you.
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| goob and i - New Year's Day 2011 - on top of Australia - Mount Kosciuszko |
In keeping with my current theme of keeping things real - I thought it was time to share 20 things you may or may not know about me - because I don't think you or I could really cope with 100......so here goes.....
1. I was born in Sydney, Australia.
2. I was adopted soon after my birth. I am what is known online as an 'adoptee'.
3. I lived for the first 4 years of my life in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea. I remember that we lived in a cul de sac. That's it.
4. My dad died in a helicopter crash just before my 1st birthday.
5. We lived on the North Shore in Sydney for the remainder of my childhood - with my mum, brother and sister. It was a happy life.
6. I studied piano for most of my youth - getting up to the 7th grade level (AMEB). Those exams took all of the fun out of it - I rarely play now.
7. I attended an all-girls Anglican high school. It had it's good and bad moments. I was a troubled teen - but I made it through. (I just don't want my daughters to find out about it.........)
8. I lived near Stockholm in Sweden as a Rotary Exchange Student for 12 months after high school - an amazing experience. I learnt to speak Swedish. I never get to use it!!
9. My mum died from breast cancer when I was 18. I miss her a lot. We were never able to be adults together - she didn't get to meet my amazing husband - nor my awesome kids.
10. I met mr w. when I was 19 and fell completely and madly in love. Every now and then I am petrified that he stays with me only because he perhaps knows that I'd fall to pieces if he left me. Most of the time I know that's nonsense.
11. We married when I was 21 - 6th October 1990 - at HMAS Watson on Sydney's south headland.
12. I worked in the travel industry before we had kids - including ground jobs with Eastwest Airlines and Ansett. Both airlines are sadly no longer with us - perhaps it was something I did..........jokes! :)
13. We had our 1st daughter (goob) when I was 26 - our 2nd (eky) when I was 28 - and our last (triple j) when I was 32 (a surprise natural breech birth - butt first - over 10 pounds of baby - can I just say ouch!!).
14. Since children, I've mostly been home - although I've dabbled in office administration and I was an Enjo consultant for a number of years. I've coached and managed netball teams and I've also
15. My bio parents married 6 months after my birth (they are still together living in Queensland) and I have a total of 6 siblings. 1 brother and 1 sister in my adoptive family - and 2 brothers and 2 sisters in my bio family.
16. I have met all of my bio family apart from my father and 1 sister.
17. I finally met my mother in November 2010. I don't think I'll ever see her again. Her choice. Enough said.
18. I absolutely have no regrets with searching and finding my biological family. I now finally have answers.
I know who I look like, have traits like and have the all important family medical history which I didn't have for 35+ years of my life. (I can finally not cringe when the doctor asks me that question). Stuff that is also really important for my kids. It was however an incredibly rough roller coaster ride that consumed me for many, many years.
19. I started blogging in October 2006 - in response to some lectures and tutorials at Uni - and to help me through the journey of searching. That original blog is still around - I just haven't posted there since March 2009. It's under another blogger name - it's a very raw read!! I also set up some other blogs for netball associations and teams.
20. I love to be in front of a classroom - I love kids - but some days I don't know if I still want to teach. However I do have to finish this degree as I already have a HECS bill for it (university fees) - with no pretty framed degree paper to show for it. Maybe I should have looked for one on etsy..........
So that's me - in a nutshell. A little battered and bruised on the inside - but hanging in there and getting on with life.
I share this stuff as it's much of what has shaped the real me.
I've had a heap of therapy through the years - perhaps I'm ready for some more?!?! I've been stewing on this post for a few weeks - and point #17 probably dragged up some stuff I've been avoiding for almost 12 months now. (lucky I'm entitled to free counselling at Uni - that's always a bonus!!!)
Sorry for the heavy post, but it's been good for me to write it all down.
My belief - a full and real life is about acknowledging all the good and all the bad. Sh*t happens - it's no use trying to pretend it doesn't. Putting it out there helps to get me though it.
Thanks for hanging in there if you've made it this far.
And thank you for just 'being there' - whether you comment or not. It feels good to know that I'm not talking/writing to thin air sometimes.
OK - back to the usual programming until post 200! :)
hugz from here.
cheryl xox.
Oh my. Well firstly, congratulations on 100 posts. And secondly, a big warm hug to you for being so brave to write about the sad things which have happened in your life. It's true what you say, these are the things which shape you. xx
ReplyDeleteOMG, seriously, we have SOOO much in common, from North Shore, to adoption, to marrying military, to marrying teen loves, being young mums, i was christened at HMAS Watson (my father was the CO there), i was born in Sydney, now living in Canberra & playing the piano. Plus i know we both married westies, tee hee!! Our private school sisters will never understand.
ReplyDeleteCrushing news about losing your father as a baby & your mummy just on the cusp of adulthood. I've never EVER sought out my biological family, zero interest, i don't care about medical issues & just say 'i don't know'. How is that for a scientist?? We so have get together properly, chat soon, love Posie
Congrats on your 100th post, Cheryl - that's an amazing milestone! I'm getting there myself and wonder if that's the magic number (triple digits!) when I'll really feel established. When did you feel settled in to the blog?
ReplyDeleteThanks also for sharing such personal revelations - that's very brave. I can't directly relate, but we do have a close friend who had a similar experience: her biological parents also married shortly after she was adopted, and had another five children. She met them and formed casual relationships with some of her siblings, but not her parents. She found it difficult to get past the idea that her bio family WAS a family ... that her parents had continued together and formed a unit with more children, but without her. She felt like it might almost have been better to find out that her parents had split after her adoption; it might have been easier to accept their decision. Maybe you're experiencing something similar, or maybe it's just hard having another mum in the world that you can't pursue a relationship with when you lost your mum so early in life.
I can't even begin to imagine and will knock it off with the armchair psychology, but it will work itself out in time. Take care of you,
April