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Carol Grimsley
Goldsboro, North Carolina USA
Email Carol
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Wow, writing my life story in less than a day. I suppose that could be interesting, seeing as while I write this I am wearing my BDU's.
Even with all the anti-military hype going on these days I can't help but feel proud of what I have accomplished, but I believe I am jumping the gun.
I was born in Fort Worth Texas to my mother Margarita and my Father James. I was their first child and their first and only girl. I don't have a lot of memories of what life was like before the age of 5 years old. I m told I was a good kid, and that I always talked with the adults, because I was never afraid of them.
My grade school years were lonely. I was home schooled by my mom until the fourth grade. Even though I was academically ahead of the other kids in my grade I was socially inept. I felt more at home chatting with the teacher than trying to make friends. I suppose this is why I made the friends I did.
We all had our problems even at the tender age of nine we were beginning to show signs of what we would grow up to be. I realize this now in retrospect, but at the time I was simply grateful to not be alone in the harsh world of an elementary playground.
You never forget that first group of friends. For me they were the people I would associate with until I graduated and some even longer than that. They were amazing in my eyes. First there was Liliana a girl I had seen in church every Sunday who was too shy to talk to anyone. She had big teeth and when you really got to know her she had a sincere and funny personality. Her logic was always a little warped, I will never forget the day that my friends and I were crying over a dead cat on the playground and Liliana said, Well if my dad turned into a bird and flew away I would try to catch him because I love him. At that point a flock of birds flew over head and she ran after them.
Another of my friends was Sandra. She had asthma and was sick when I met her sometime after the first week of school. She and I would have an on and off friendship because she would easily succumb to the pressure of her two best friends and my off and on nemesis Brandee and Veronica.
Veronica s mom knew my mom in high school. My mom was prettier than hers and there was a little of that rivalry left when Veronica and I became friends. She wasn't prettier than me by far and she wasn't more creative than I was. All she could try and contend with was IQ and even on that playing field her attempts to beat me were always futile because I didn't care about being smarter than her.
Brandee loved boys. She chased them around the playground and always wanted a boyfriend. But mostly, she wanted boys that other little girls already had. Boys she had never noticed before suddenly became attractive if one of her friends was seen holding his hand. Brandee grew up to have a baby by a married man now she s pregnant with his twins.
Then there was Audrey. She was my exact opposite, where I was shy with kids, she was out going, while I was in-your-face with adults, she was charming. She was blond haired and hazel eyes, while I have a Hispanic complexion. She was my best friend for the longest time and my rival for even longer.
Around fifth grade I developed my political opinions, getting in debates with my teachers over such subjects as the portrayal of Mexicans as villains in the history of Texas, teaching evolution, and even abortion. I got sent home early for the last one.
I don't remember much of middle school except for discovering my adoration of the Beatles (particularly John Lennon) and my first two boyfriends.
I don't remember much about Nick, except that when he asked me out I couldn't really read the note. It was the standard shy kid asking some one out, kind of note, with the obligatory Yes/No at the bottom. I must have circled no three times before I finally circled Yes so he would stop passing me notes in class. I avoided him like a plague for two days then made him cry when I dumped him.
In seventh grade I took on the task of being the editor of the middle school newspaper. Some guy on my staff asked me out while I was busy and on a dare from a friend of mine I said yes. He and I exchanged guitar picks (which we both wore on necklaces) and never really talked to each other until I dumped him when I developed a crush on Micah.
Micah and I had been dire enemies in the early years of our relationship and both of us hated each other equally. Then in seventh grade he and I simply decided to become friends. He has a blue eye that s the entire defense I can give for my initial crush on him.
When I got to high school, (8th grade was dull so I m skipping it) I suddenly became attractive to boys that I found attractive and would spend the rest of my life relationship hopping. As a matter of fact after doing the math I have discovered that I have managed to cram seven years of relationships into five. How can a girl be expected to choose?
First there was Matt, he was home schooled by strict parents, had had an Air Force father and was cute as hell to boot. We had stuff in common and I could rub it in Audrey s face that he had liked me and not her.
Matt and I broke up when we became too good of friends, and almost a week later I was dating a Senior. My parents hated that. I can honestly say I have only heard my mother have a Mexican accent once, and it was after I said that I was in love with Will. Oops.
After Will got jealous of me and my guy friends I dumped him for one of them, a young Philipino named Rick. He cheated on me and decided he needed space. I took that as a break up, so when I received a call from him dumping me I had my new boyfriend on the other line. That boyfriend was Shaun.
Shaun is a legend in my family for being the one person who took away any and all common sense I had been raised with. In two years of on and off dating him I would threaten to run away eight times, disappear from school three times, disappear from work twice, and try and take my life once. He still calls me, he says he still loves me, and he hates me all the same.
I would have given up on men altogether if it had not been for Devin (the guitarist, YUM) and Jon (The actor.)
Devin was not the handsomest guy I have ever met but he was the most talented and one of the nicest. If I hadn't been such a control freak because of what I went through with Shaun, then things would have worked out for the better.
Jon was a closet homosexual from what I can tell, which is a shame because he and I could have made some beautiful kids. (Again, he had blue eyes!)
At the end of high school I had grown tired of Shaun stalking me and decided to enlist in the military. My scores were sky high because my IQ is well above average. I decided to join the Air Force.
I was on the delayed enlistment program when September 11th happened and I thought that my life as I knew it had come to an end, and in a way, it did.
Two months later I would find myself being screamed at for six weeks. I was constantly running around trying to help people hide the fact that their cookies were crumbling and trying to keep my own sanity in check as well, before being sent off to MO to learn about Chemical Warfare.
I have been here in North Carolina for just over a year and a half. In that year I have been to war once, and fallen in love twice.
Jacob and Aaron are good friends, so it was a little odd how when Jacob dumped me Aaron asked me out, but Aaron insists that it s because he thinks I am beautiful. He s become my team mate in so many ways. He stays calm while I constantly question my sanity, he has been to war with me and kept me from crying while my country called us serving them, barbarians who were only there for the oil. Aaron is that voice of reason whenever I feel like I am running off the edge of a pier.
As a closing note, Aaron surprised me yesterday by showing up on my doorstep. He s out of the Air Force now, but still takes the time to drop everything and come see me, even when he lives states away.
This ladies and gentlemen is my life and I am proud of it.
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