When I'm asked where I'm from I usually just say Tulsa, Oklahoma. But the truth is, I'm actually from Orlando too. No...not Florida - Orlando, Oklahoma to be exact....where?? See! That is why it is just easier to say Tulsa...about 98% of people I meet have never even heard of Orlando and if you google it, you'll see why. It is extremely small - as in less than 500 people small. I moved there with my mom after my parents separated when I was 12. Despite the fact that my parents were separating and of course I was heartbroken over that - I was also super excited to be moving to "the farm" as I called it. Orlando would be a brand new start for me, an adventure and I couldn't wait! Well, fast forward about 6 years to high school graduation. As excited as I was to move to the farm years before, I was even more excited to be moving away from Orlando! I was 18 so of course I had everything figured out...or so I thought. I had it all planned out - I would go to college, graduate, get a good job, maybe get married, have kids...you know the drill...but most importantly, I would not live in Orlando - I was moving away and that was what I was most excited about.
At that time, I certainly did not appreciate the community I spent the most formative of my adolescent years in - in fact, I think I resented it. Hind sight is always 20/20 though right? Now that I've had a few years to begin the process of growing up (please note - I did not say I am done growing up - I figure anyone reading this who actually knows me would call b.s. on that comment so just wanted to clarify), I realize that this community that I was so ready to get away from actually had a huge part of shaping who I am today. I am aware of the "Orlando in me", so to speak, on a daily basis. I am still torn on the nature vs. nurture argument - but, I do tend to lean towards the nurture side. I think we become who we are more so from our environment - our family, friends, the communities we live in...
I'm all about reflection, reminiscing, communicating what I am thankful for and what I love and appreciate, etc... so today I thought I'd make a list of some of my favorite memories as well as what I love and appreciate about my tiny hometown of Orlando, Oklahoma. These are the building blocks of me.
- M-O FFA and my high school ag teacher, Mr. Brent Casey
- Lady Panther athletics - Coach K!! Our very loyal fans who came to every game even though, let's face it...we sucked. Now don't get mad and yell at me for saying this Kayla!
- I love that our teachers were not only educators, but were (and most still are) actually friends with our families
- we had to drive 20 minutes to go to Sonic...and we made this drive nearly every single day after school
- Carl's Quick Stop - we miss you Carl. I think this was my first actual job other than babysitting.
- sneaking out my window in 7th grade to meet boys and getting caught by Uncle Wayne in less than 5 minutes
- "Drive your tractor to school" day for National FFA Week...and yes, we did actually drive tractors to school
- stock shows - waking up early & washing our calves in the freezing cold - it builds character right?
- bus rides to softball games & singing Dixie Chicks with my team as loud as we could. I clearly remember how great Crystal is at harmonizing - she can sing the high and the low parts perfectly!
- also related to softball game bus rides (and this is an inside joke) - DO THE DEW! Anyone else remember that besides me? I know Jennifer Wimsey will. :)
- driving dirt roads for hours and never caring how much gas we were wasting...but whatever you do - don't waste the beer!
- spotlighting deer AKA making out on dirt roads
- after prom party and bonfire Senior year...Aunt Carla stole all my date's beer out of his ice chest & replaced it with DR PEPPER!!! We got the beer back at the after party, but she really got us good!
- detention in the back of Mr. Pfeiffer's old science building - I spent a lot of time there for, what else, talking too much!
- home made breakfasts at school courtesy of Evelyn Schwandt - I still crave those cinnamon rolls and Kolotchy's or whatever those things were called, on a regular basis, however Evelyn is my favorite part of this memory
- coffee shop talk - anything you do your grandpa was going to find out about the next morning at the coffee shop. I actually appreciate this now believe it or not.
- I love that 4 generations of my family & most of my friends' families all attended the same school
- I love that nearly all of our grandparents have all been married for over 50 years...and most of them were married in the same church
- everyone knows everyone - mostly I appreciate this part of Orlando because this is not the case in any other place I've lived in
- when my mom made Carra a homemade German chocolate cake for her birthday...and left the potholders between the layers when she iced it!!!! I think we nearly peed our pants laughing after we discovered the potholders inside the cake!
- it still makes me smile that every family at our church has their own row that they have sat in for years - I also love children's church - Jovonna is the best children's church teacher ever!
- I love that my entire family has said the same dinner time prayer for years and that this same prayer will likely be passed down to future generations of our family
- I like that I graduated with less than 20 people and we all pretty much know what everyone else is doing these days, or at least where everyone else is...thanks facebook! ;)
- I so appreciate the weekly Sunday after-church lunches at Grandma's - I especially love that our menu consisted of pretty much the same thing every week - taboli, baked beans, mashed potatoes, sauerkraut and weenies, macaroni and cheese, homemade lemon meringue pie...these are all pretty much my favorite foods to this day.
- I love that, in some way or another, a lot of people in Orlando are related, even if only by marriage...this however, does make dating people from your school rather complicated...
- I love that Kayla's mom always had the BEST cereal ever! And she let me eat as much of it as I wanted!
- I love that my mom tried her hardest to teach me how to cook, but all I wanted to do was watch tv and read gossip magazines...as a result, my mother gets lots of emergency cooking phone calls
- I love that my grandma RARELY would use pre-made pie crusts. I also fondly remember how much time and effort she puts into her homemade pie crusts...and how often she made me redo mine cause my crimps weren't pretty enough :)
- staying up all night in Grandma & Papa's backyard to catch the armadillo tearing up her flower beds...and then watching the boys kill the poor little guy with a baseball bat
- Kayla & Cory surfing on top of my Jeep while driving through Orlando - ahhh! this scares me that we thought this was a good idea!
Okay...I'm stopping there because I could go on and on and I'm probably the only one who cares about these things anyways. Thank you Orlando, and thank you to my wonderful family and friends, for keeping me grounded & for all the lessons you've taught me & memories you've given me over the years. I am blessed & I wouldn't change a thing even if I could.
In Him,
Brooklyn
