I was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and lived there until I was five and moved to Minnesota. From that moment my life had changed. I was no longer surrounded by family and lost the close connection we had when I lived only ten minutes away. Instead I created new families with the close friends I made. I started taking up sports as a kid and joined boy scouts. Soon after sports overran boy scouts. I was playing football, hockey, and baseball year round throughout my younger years all the way up to high school. These activitities brought me to meet many people who helped shape my life. My life was also shaped by events such as a grandparent's death, parents divorce, and my father moving half-way across the country for a job. Now looking back at my life I wonder what my grand narrative would have been like if I never would have moved one state over.
I always think I would have been a lot closer to my family and would have had people to run to when looking for advice. I wonder what sports I would have played or if I would have play any sports at all since my grandpa was so involved with racing, I might have become involved with that as well. Another thought that crosses my mind is if my parents would have still gotten a divorce or if my dad would have been able to keep his job at home.
It's just crazy to think how one event can alter your grand narrative and what could have been if that event never happened.
I can't personally relate to this, but I know my mother can. When she first got married, she moved from Ohio to Milwaukee, departing from all her relatives in Ohio. She quickly realized that she would need to develop some close friendships to fulfill the roles that her family formerly provided. She lived in Milwaukee for twenty years and had plenty of good friends to turn to for advice, support, and etc. Now, in her third marriage, she has moved to Chicago, where she knows practically no one. She is starting the process over again in her mid fifties.
ReplyDeletei think that this is very true that one event can really alter your grand narrative! There are always those "what if" thoughts. I think at the end of the day though you have to appreciate what you have and what you did have and grow from it. I know when my parents divorced when I was younger it wasn't part of my grand narrative but my grand narrative was soon altered to fit something else I found ideal.
ReplyDelete