Telling my whole life

I was a fashion icon, even in childhood. 

So, today I am going to do something I have frequently asked my clients to do and yet never done myself. 

It's a writing exercise I call "the ten most significant moments of your life". 

I specify specific moments, not major life milestones. So, instead of saying "My wedding day", I encourage people to think of a specific moment of that day that stays with them and what it meant to them. 

So...without further ado, I give you 'The ten most significant moments in the life of Lori" 

(there is no meaning to the order...its just random..and they are kind of long...I might do 3 a day for a few posts)

10. I remember playing catch with my sister Erin out in the street when I was around 13 and she was better than me, which was frustrating, and I was trying to beat her. But then, in that moment, and I have NO IDEA why it was that moment, I sort of decided to present myself as more ditzy and incapable than I really was, as my mind was saying to me that is how 'girls are supposed to be' and 'people will be nicer to me if I can't do stuff'. I remember then deliberately missing the next catch and laughing, saying "I'm such a ditz".  I do this kind of stuff TO THIS DAY. 

9. I served a mission for my church in Chicago, Illinois. There were about a million significant moments in those 18 months but the one that stands out to me the most is the day I arrived to my first area and went into the apartment I would be living at with my first companion. I sat at the tiny kitchen table and realized that the tacky floral table cloth was glued onto the table. I had never felt so lost and alone in all my life. I was far from my family, in a cramped apartment with a girl who I had just met, who spoke very little English. It was the first time in my life that I had only God to turn to. My relationship with Him was changed from that very day. 

8. I remember when I was at my highest weight and I was living in North Carolina. I went to the Walmart to grab a couple of things and my back hurt so much from carrying all that extra weight and I was so out of breath that after a few minutes that I had to go to the shoe department so I could sit on one of their little benches. I felt like a prisoner in my body. 

7. (Last one for today) When I was 14, my family was living in a condo in Wildwood  NJ that we had rented for the winter until we could save up and find somewhere else to live after moving out of my grandfather's house in the fall. One night, all four of us kids and my mom were driving to look at a house that one of her coworkers had recommended- which was not a good fit at all- and I remember sitting in the backseat of that car and it really hitting me that my home was not a place but the people in the car with me. One of the blessings of poverty is that it teaches you what is truly of value and pulls you together as a team to just survive. 

I will write the rest tomorrow. Try not to let the suspense kill you!

Lori Ann