I was born in Brisbane, Australia on May 29, 1989 to my parents Patricia and James. Almost two years later my baby brother Mitchell came along and we spent the next few years living in this gorgeous rental property in Redbank Plains. We had a large fenced yard where we could freely run around chasing our two poodles, Shauna and Sammy, and we had a cute wooden bridge in our front garden that made me feel like a fairy
.
When I was 4 years old I remember packing up in the middle of the night and being told that we were moving to our new house in a suburb called One Mile. I don't remember much about the moving experience, but I do remember only taking Shauna with us and still being allowed to attend the same Kindergarten. As I grew older I eventually learned that my Mum and Dad had purchased this new house.
One of my worst childhood memories whilst living in this house happened quite early on. When I was around five or six this large German Shepherd from across the road ran into our yard while my Dad had the front gate open to reverse his car out of the driveway. Our beautiful poodle Shauna who had been very well trained was sitting by the front door step at the time, and well.. I'm sure you can figure out the rest. I've had an aversion to German Shepherds ever since. :(
It was also around that time that I had just started Primary School, and whilst I was incredibly bright I really struggled to fit in at the school that I was attending. My classroom teachers were lovely and I had a couple of really nice friends, but my P.E. teacher was just downright abusive (which I didn't realise until years later) and most of the kids were stuck up little shits.
When I was seven and half and about to start year three, Mum decided that would be the perfect time for me to change schools. The school we changed to was much, much smaller and the children and staff were a hundred times friendlier than they were at our previous school.. all except for this one boy, who had basically labelled himself as the class bully. I don't remember much of the bullying but I do know that it happened from the moment I walked into the classroom, so it wasn't really the best way to start at a new school. He picked on me for wearing braces (which was actually just a temporary plate), and possibly because my name sounded like the word 'electricity'. Fortunately the bullying didn't last for too long as he eventually got in trouble for bullying other girls as well.
My first few weeks at my new school weren't entirely horrible though. On my first day in the classroom our year three teacher asked us all to sit in a circle and say our name as well as one word that best described what we wanted to be when we grew up. When it came to my turn I introduced myself and told everyone I wanted to be a "brain surgeon". I was reminded that brain surgeon was actually two words, and advised that I might want to consider the word "doctor" instead.. Ha! Anyway, after I'd had my turn the sweet girl sitting beside me who had shown me around the school grounds at lunch time introduced herself as Jamie and told the class she wanted to be a "Stripper". I'm not sure if anyone even knew what a stripper was, but I did, and I decided then and there that Jamie and I were going to best friends.. and we were, eventually.
Jamie lived in this big house directly across the road from the school, however, because her Dad was a truck driver and was rarely ever home, she wasn't allowed to have friends come over after school or on the weekends as her step mother didn't want the responsibility of having to look after someone else's child (don't worry, even as an eight year old I could already see the irony in this). Being the devoted friend that I was though I refused to give up on weekend visits and hand wrote a letter to Jamie's father requesting that Jamie sleepover at my house that weekend. Apparently Jamie's father had no idea that his daughter believed she couldn't see her friends on the weekends, and told my Mum that I was welcome to hang out with Jamie any time I liked. :)
..stay tuned for Part 2!
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I was originally going to try and write this in 250 words or less as part of the
Blog Everyday in May Challenge that everyone's been jumping on board with, however I have a pretty incredible memory when it comes to my childhood and I would hate to leave anything out of this little "life story" that I have gone and started. So, if you think that you can bare with me for a few more instalments I would be happy to share some more highlights from my trip down memory lane.. although it will more than likely be after I have finished my assignments and my internship that starts later this month.
Let me know if you have been participating in the
Blog Everyday in May Challenge and feel free to provide a link to your own "life story" post in the comments below. ;)
