Carly's Ramblings Blog - Style

Regrets, What I would Tell My Younger Self & Memories

Welcome To My Reality - Week Eighty - Six

1. We all have different definitions of family and what it means to us. Share who makes up your family and what family means to you.

Family is very important to me. Around my own family, I feel normal. The world feels right. There is acceptance of the strange things I do, because they do them too. Not like my husband's family - who I love as well, but they are different. His family has Polish and German descent, mine has English, Irish and Scottish. We are much more laid back than his family.

I am not as close to my family as I once was and that is something I need to change. A lot of it has to do with my marrying. We spend a great deal of time doing things with my husband's family and not so much with mine - partially because I feel my husband is not as comfortable with my family. Odd really, because my family is more welcoming....

With the issues going on in my marriage right now, I am finding I am spending more time with my family and my friends that mean so much to me. I need to let them know they are special to me and I can do that by engaging more time to be out and about with them.

My mother lives five minutes from me and my favourite aunt lives in Guelph - just a 30 to 40 minute drive away. My cousins are a bit more scattered now that they are all adults - but they come home. One lives right next door to my aunt and uncle. Another lives in Toronto... but she is around and Facebook helps keep me aware of her many activities. My other two cousins are younger - one has moved back in with my aunt and uncle, the other has recently moved out... but she is still in town.

I usually only see them at Christmas for a few hours... but with weddings and new twins, I have been able to connect a bit more.
Facebook keeps me in touch with my cousins up north and down in Virginia.

2. Share a memory of something/someone that made an impact on who you are today.

My grandmother, Annie Proud was a wonderful woman. She loved me unconditionally and accepted me for who I am. Her love and acceptance was a balm when I was a child. An only child. A child whose parents were separated - living in a small town this was not the norm... not in the seventies. She was my soft place to land. I could always count on Gramzie's love and acceptance.

Having lived in a family where she was not a favourite of her mother's and seeing and feeling the unfairness of it, I believe she felt compelled to support the underdog. I was a child caught in an adult's plight, and though my parents were civil towards each other, I was still coming from a broken home. How much my mother shared with her own mother about her situation, I don't know, but Gramzie supported and loved my mother in her time of need - whether words passed between them or not.

3. If you could go back and give advice to your sixteen year old self, what would it be?

Get out there. Find part time work to balance out your world. Being busy allows me to get more done - learning to manage my time far more effectively. You appreciate the time off when you have it and you make a bit of money to be able to do something when you do have the time off.

Volunteer as well. Build up your wealth of experience so that you can get into teacher's college sooner.

Also do not give up on your writing. Stick with it. It is your power house and your salvation.

4. WDC's 15th Birthday is around the corner. Share with us the impact that WDC has had on your personally and on your writing.

WDC is my virtual home. It is the place I come to everyday to connect with friends, blog and challenge myself to some writing for contests. I have met some really great people on this site and feel very accepted on this site. The support is wonderful. I feel I can take on writing challenges and know someone here a WDC will encourage me and cheer me on.... and I try to do the same to others.

This will be my third birthday celebration here at WDC. I joined in March, but it was not until that first birthday celebration that I saw how active and vital this site really was... I was hooked and I haven't regretted a moment. I will be renewing my Premium membership at the end of the month and I am expecting another fabulous year that challenges me to reach out further with my own writing.... and reviewing.

7. Share one of your biggest regrets. Why do you regret it? What would you change if you could? What did you learn from it?

I try not to live with regrets, but I wouldn't mind a do over. If I could go back to my last year of high school I would get a part time job and save my money up so that I could travel before going on to University. I would also volunteer more in classrooms. I would try to develop my work experiences so that when I went off to university I would be able to go to Teacher's College sooner.