10/20/30

I just saw a "tag" I've never seen before, so I'm taking it upon myself to do it. You just share what you were doing 10, 20 and 30 years ago. This was particularly appealing to me because today is my birthday. I honestly haven't stopped to figure out what was going on then, so here's hoping I come up with something interesting once I do the math.

10 years ago: I turned 27 on this date in 1997. Scott and I had been married 5 months, and had just come back from a Thanksgiving trip to Oregon. It was a pretty miserable trip. One of my beloved sisters-in-law was still coming to terms with the stillbirth of her daughter, and I wanted so badly to be of comfort to her in some small way. I was extremely, helplessly aware that I had not experienced anything that could remotely clue me in on what she was going through. We were staying at my in-laws' home, and there was something "off" in the air there, too. It was a palpable tenseness, and I couldn't figure it out. Did they totally hate me? We did get away by ourselves for lunch in Salem one day, where my mother-in-law was playing Christmas music at the mall. At first I was relieved that she seemed so much happier and more relaxed; maybe she didn't hate me after all. Then, in one of those horrible flashes of clarity, I realized what was "off" and I spent the rest of the weekend hoping that flash of clarity was wrong and that she did, in fact, simply hate me, and I would go back to Albuquerque and everything would be fine.

20 years ago: I turned 17 in 1987. Was this the year I had the surprise party at Hunan? I *think* it was; that was either '87 or '88. I was dating a guy named Bryan, who was supposed to deliver me to Hunan at the proper time. I was pretty sure that something was up, so just to amuse myself, I tried to see how many ways I could screw up his simple assignment. "I think I'd rather have Italian food." "I'm not even hungry yet; let's go see 'Three Men and a Baby' first." "Do you mind running me by the mall for just a little Christmas shopping?" I know, I know. I'm awful.

30 years ago: I turned 7 in 1977. I don't specifically remember this birthday. (With a sincere apology to my parents, who I am sure worked hard to make it a memorable birthday and will be crushed that I don't remember the pony and the magician and the cake and...) This was the year that my maternal grandfather died, followed by Elvis Presley, and that is always the first thing I think of whenever 1977 comes up. You know those signs in the grocery store that say, "You must have been born after this date in _____ to purchase alcohol"? Those signs began to bother me in 1998, when people who never even shared the planet with my grandfather or Elvis became old enough to purchase alcohol. And they bother me more every year. People born in 1986 are turning 21 this year. I turned sixteen in 1986. Must go take my Geritol now.

If you want to play, consider yourself tagged. :)