By the Way Sunday

What Were You Doing?

What were you doing 10 years ago, 20 years ago, 30 years ago, 40 years ago, etc.?
1996--I had been working at the library I where I currently work for about 4 months. Sparky was 3 and in daycare 1 (2?) days each week. I think I was also still delivering one small route of newspapers, 20-30 per day, though I gave that up at some point in '96. I had realized that I was not cut out for being a stay-at-home mom, and I was still recovering from the deaths of my dad and sister. I also had started to have really huge allergy problems, two bouts of which took me to the emergency room. It was not a particularly happy time in my life.

1986--I graduated from college in May with all my paper (sans Master's degree, which I got the following year) in hand. About 6 weeks later, I got married. We were certainly far from wealthy, but we felt immensely lucky to have each other, and to have a steady income in Beast's job. The company at which he did his internship senior year hired him full time at $28,000/year. I went to library school, we lived in a minuscule apartment, and we had fun playing house.

1976--Bicentennial year. We had owned our house near Ouray for about 3 years, and it was gradually turning into a proper house: separate bedroom, enlarged bathroom, large window in front, carpet/linoleum on the floor, kitchen cupboards...but the plumbing situation hadn't been resolved yet. We went to the 4th of July parade in Ouray; the parade marshall was C.W. McCall, later the mayor of the city for a couple of terms under his real name, Bill Fries. I was 12-going-on-13 and knew everything. Seems to me by big crushes at that point were Bruce Boxleitner and Eric Estrada.

1966--I don't really remember this year (aren't you relieved?). That's probably just as well: my sister came down with aplastic anemia that summer after taking prescribed meds for a cold she got while working as a camp counselor. Over the next couple of years she came very close to dying. I spent a lot of time in parking lots outside hospitals, and inside hospital waiting rooms.