Monday, May 08, 2006

My Life Monday - Week 1



Ok, we're kicking off the first "My Life Monday!" I am very excited to read your life stories! Please put your site in the linky thing below if you complete the MLM.
Lolly made these lovely MLM logo's for us to use. Feel free to copy one or both to use on your site.

Week 1 topic - My Most Memorable Childhood Experience
(or how I got my own bedroom)

Growing up, I lived in a two story, 5 bedroom house with my parents, my three brothers, and my one sister. We lived in an ordinary house in an ordinary residential neighborhood. My sister and I shared a bedroom in the basement. It was a nice, big bedroom decorated in a lovely Strawberry Shortcake theme - red carpet, Strawberry Shortcake curtains, etc (It's still decorated that same way today!). My older brother shared a room next to us. The rest of the basement was a big open family room. In the front area were the TV and couches. The middle consisted of the the fireplace and bathroom. The back consisted of our bedrooms. It was a wide open area which made for lots of fun and mischief. Upstairs were three bedrooms, plus the rest of your basic house stuff. My parents had their bedroom upstairs, as well as my two brothers who shared a room. The remaining small room was my mom's sewing/junk room. I tell you all this so you can hopefully picture the scene.

On a stormy fall day in 1984, my sister and I were downstairs in our room cleaning. I was nine and she was seven. Our three brothers were out in the family room watching TV. My mom was upstairs canning fruit and my dad was at work. My sister and I were folding clothes into our respective drawers when all of a sudden there was a thunderous crash. A noise similar to a million firecrackers going off at once deafened our ears for a brief moment. I glanced immediately out to the family room near the fire place, where the noise seemed to have emanated from. As I did this, the family room turned an eerie shade of brilliant blue. A massive fireball of red, orange, and yellow appeared in mid-air in front of the fireplace, rolled once through the room, and disappeared as quickly as it appeared.

My sister and I looked at each other, shrugged, and went back to folding clothes. Yes, we had just heard a booming noise, the room had turned blue, and a fireball had just rolled through our family room, but we went right back to cleaning. I was sure my three brothers had done something stupid which had caused this whole experience, so I just waited for my mom to start yelling at them. Sure enough, we quickly heard my mother's voice drifting down the stairs. But it wasn't to yell at my brothers as I had expected. She was yelling for us to get out of the house.

We all rushed outside where my mom met us. Once there, she told us our house had been struck by lightning. We sat in our car waiting for the firemen to arrive. Once they came, they went through our house quickly and assessed the damage. After they gave the all clear, we went back into the house to observe the damage for ourselves.

The damage was actually minimal. The lightning had traveled through our chimney pipe. Our chimney pipe went through a closet in the upstairs, where my brother's metal baseball bats were also stored. The lightning used the metal bats as a conduct to an electrical outlet. It traveled through outlet to my mom's sewing machine, which it had blown apart. It also burnt a hole in the carpet beneath the sewing machine stand. Downstairs, we discovered the fire place had been moved six inches off its foundation, which is why we heard the loud noise and saw our cool fireball. The firemen told my mom if anybody had been standing near the fireplace, they would have been hurt and if they had been touching the fireplace, they probably would have been killed. We were all very grateful that we were all safe.

Because of the damage in the sewing room to both the machine and the carpet, my parents decided to repaint and redo the sewing room. But they didn't want to put in all that work only to make it another sewing/junk room, so they said it could be my bedroom. I got to help pick out paint colors, carpet colors, bedding, and all sorts of other fun things. Sure it was the smallest room in the house, but it was all mine. I moved in as soon as it was completed, leaving my sister in the basement Strawberry Shortcake redness.

There was no real explanation as to why lightning chose our house. Our house wasn't any taller than other houses. The explanation the fire department gave us is that we were using a lot of electricity and that may have attracted the lightning bolt. For a few years afterwards, my mom would freak out when it would thunder and lightning. She would make us turn out all the lights and sit on the couches with our feet off the ground.

This is probably my favorite story to tell people - how our house got struck by lightning and how I got my own bedroom as a result.

Ok, now I get to read your stories! Post when you have yours done and I will check it out. And for week 2, your topic - The Story of my Spouse - how we met and got together.

The auto link below is only for MLM.

25 comments:

emlouisa said...

Okay, that is a crazy story. I love how you guys just shrugged and went right back to doing chores. What devoted daughters you were. :)

beth said...

Oh my goodness, that link thing is so cool! And your story is amazing. My post is a little different than what you may have been looking for. But it is very much related and I'm sure it was totally inspired by all the thinking I have been doing about my childhood in preparation for your assignment. It does talk about some specific memories I have, but not one specific story. I hope that is ok. And I like next week's topic...of course we'll be moving the next day so it may not happen for me.

How about: How you first realized you might be/were pregnant.

Mall Worker said...

Wow! What a story! Your poor mom must have been so scared! I love how you and your sister just shrugged it off and went right back to what you were doing.

I think that this was a wonderful idea!

Nicole said...

I did it! How fun!!!

Valarie said...

lol, that's great! The best part is having to sit on the couch with your feet up.

Blackeyedsue said...

I am so glad noone was hurt. That is a pretty incredible story. The Strawberry Shortcake room would be in style today too.

I feel bad for your mom. My sewing machine is like a child to me.

momofalltrades said...

Cool story! I did mine too. Left my link. I LOVE how your comments pop up in a separate screen....need to do that for my blog. Love it.

Carrie said...

Great story! I am so glad that you are doing this. I left my link. I am working on it right now.

Alicia said...

Your poor mother!! Can she laugh about it now??

scraphappymama said...

That is a crazy story. I can't believe no one was hurt. That is definitely a unique story of how you got your own room . . . different from the typical my sister went off to college, so . ..

Thanks for getting me started on writing my personal history. It's easier bit by bit.

QueenMeadow said...

Great story! I'm finishing mine up now :)

Unknown said...

Wow! Like your mom, I would have been freaked out for awhile after that experience too! I'm so glad no one got hurt. That's cool that you got your own room because of this experience. What did your new bedroom look like? Did it have a theme like the Strawberry Shortcake room?

Gina said...

That is such a cool story! Tell it again! Just kidding! Though I would love to HEAR you tell this story in person... much more dramatic I am sure. Thanks for sharing this unique experience!

Dawnyel said...

Does your mom still freak out during thunderstorms?? That would really scare me! I LOVE doing the MLMs!! Thanks for the inspiration!! :)

Jane said...

Thanks for the inspiration.
I shared a memory from my childhood too.

Jane said...

Oh and I don't blame your Mom for being freaked out at storms either.

Jane said...

Sorry, I have no idea what I am doing, I tried to add my name to your blog list for MLM and I think I screwed it up. Help!

Nicole said...

Just found your blog, its great! MLM what a great idea...
I loved your story. lightning that is a good story.

Melzie said...

I forgot!!! Next week, I promise. :)

Nichole said...

okay, I totally want in on this. Is it too late to start, even though today is Tuesday? I'm joining anyway!

:)

Kristen said...

What an incredible story! And I had to LOL when I read the part where you and your sister just shrugged it off and went back to your work! LOL! Are you kidding me?! I would have been completely freaking out!

I usually don't blog on Mondays because I'm not at work, but I will make an effort to go use my mom's computer on Mondays so I can get in on this. Great idea, Rachelle.

Jenn said...

omgosh...I just got my room because the curtains were my favorite color! hehe. That is an amazing story!

Zoe said...

That is such a cool story!! I have enjoyed going to the different blogs and reading everyones stories!!! I cannot believe that no one got hurt!! That is a miracle - and a pretty cool thing to see in your lifetime!!

1tiredmama said...

Your story is great and I think MLM is a great idea! If only I can keep up!

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