Who I am....A Series.

Who I am. 

I write this posting today with the intention of it being the first of a series of posts about me and what makes up the fabric of me.  I hope that you will enjoy reading these as I always enjoy writing them. 

Last night I attended a workshop at the University of Massachusetts - Boston (given by the program that I received my Master's degree from).  The workshop was titled "Storytelling and the Personal Journey" and the speaker was a good friend of mine, and fellow alum of Critical and Creative Thinking graduate program, Jane LaChance.  Jane is an accomplished story teller and had much to share with us.  I must admit at this point that walking into the room last night was a little bit scary.  It has been a rare occasion in the last year that I have been in a room of people where the majority of the people knew nothing about me (specifically nothing about my cancer).  This was something I appreciated last night and wasn't exactly sure how to deal with...it felt a bit like the white elephant in the room was sitting at my feet but no one else could see him.

At the start of the workshop we were asked to introduce ourselves to the group using five specific pieces of information: Our name, our place of birth, our place in birth order, a family value instilled in us growing up, and an early memory of story.  For a few moments I was stumped.  Not by the actual information that was needed, that I could do no problem, but stumped by the fact that all of this information was from a time in my pre-cancer life.  I was about to introduce myself to a group of people who for the most part knew nothing about my last year and when I was done with that introduction they would still know nothing about this past year.  This is when I really started thinking about writing this series of posts and delving into "Who I am". 

I'll start here with the information that I gave the group last night, "My name is Elizabeth, I was born in Lewiston, Maine, I am the oldest, a family value that was important was education and reading, and my earliest story memories are from listening to Good Night Moon over and over and over again."  It felt great to say all of those things last night and it feels great to write them today, they are all still true.  My name has varied a but through time and nicknames but the rest of it remains true...even Good Night Moon is still my favorite story.  I have, at this point in my life, probably read thousands of books but Good Night Moon is memorized and a bit like an old friend.  We have several copies in the house including my childhood copy.  I am a reader and a lover of books.  That is a part of who I am.

What else is it that makes up me...beyond that white elephant sitting at my feet.  I love the outdoors but have never really liked camping, although I tried.  Peeing in the woods and worrying that creatures would eat our food always bothered me a bit.  I loved going to summer camp as a child and working there as I grew older.  I share a birthday with Audrey Hepburn and love to watch her movies and am blessed to be married to a man that also loves Audrey Hepburn.  I love chocolate chips and peanut butter.  I ate peanut butter and jelly sandwiches almost everyday for lunch until I went to college and discovered that when I made them they didn't taste quite the same as when my Dad made them.  I don't like to watch scary movies, never have, in fact, I can't even watch the commercials for scary movies.  I love Law and Order reruns, but the really old ones with Lenny Brisco.  I am a little bit afraid of the dark but am proud to say that I eventually did outgrow the need to sleep with my back to the window and my face towards the door.  I love hot tea, and hot apple cider.  I love the ocean, I would even go so far as to say I need the ocean.  I love to learn new things and about new people.  I suppose this list could go on for quite a while...I'll stop it for now so that I am left with more material in the future.

As I said at the start of this post, I intend to write a series of posts on this topic.  Please feel free to comment as you read them I enjoy the feedback.