For those of you who know me, you know that I am fantastic with numbers. I have had an 'A' in every math class I have ever taken no matter how bad the teacher was. And I promise I am not trying to toot my own horn. I remember every phone number of every "best friend" I have ever had. I memorize every birthday of every family member, friend, or crush. Any date that is significant in my life is permanently imprinted in my brain. You are probably getting the point by now. It has never really made sense to me why numbers always seem to sink into my brain as if it were a sponge. If you asked me to explain the Kinetic Molecular Theory or to list Woodrow Wilson's 14 points (I even hesitated writing that because I wasn't sure he was the right dude) you would think I was suffering from a severe seizure. But the more I think about it, the more I realize that this is one of those epiphanies I mentioned would be written about in my first post.
Numbers are often associated with memories. Good and bad. They represent the day something began, or the day something ended. We are reminded sometimes of things we wish we couldn't remember. Numbers aid in putting memorable events in our life in a chronological order. After digits and happenings are sorted in a correct fashion, deja vu takes a seat and makes itself at home. We, as humans (or at least I know I do), replay certain events over and over in our heads to provide the feeling we felt when that certain event occurred. I plead guilty to doing that ALL THE TIME. In class, in a grocery store, in church. You name a place and I have probably daydreamed there. The only problem I seem to find with that, is that it is a rude awakening that circumstances are not what they used to be. No, I am not talking about the fact that my hair was not black then and my nose was not pierced. I'm talking about the fact that people change. I change. You change. We all change. This causes the comparison of then and now to be somewhat disappointing at times. But rest assure that these things are not always sour. They can be very good as well. A handful of my favorite conversations, hugs, and just down right awesome memories are replayed on a daily basis. And if need be, they do an exceptional job of putting a smile on my face even if it is just for a moment.
Back to my epiphany. I believe, and stop me if you disagree, that the method behind my obsession with numbers is that when numbers are placed parallel with an event in my life, it seems as if i remember them...more? A question mark because it doesn't really make any sense. But it's as much sense I can make out of this strange addiction. Without a date, my memories might as well be a word or drawing in the sand that disappears once the tide creeps it's way past what used to be someone's masterpiece. They do not exist without an address for me to revisit them by. It's weird, I am aware. But that is just the way the wheels in my complicated brain turn.
So if I were to rewind my life a year from today exactly, I can honestly say that my life now and my life then would seem as if I had somehow switched lives with one much more complex than mine. The later being the more complex of the two, obviously. Where I stood 365 days ago feels like a far away land that I haven't traveled to in quite a while. My hair was more of an auburn color. My nose did not host a small hole and a tiny diamond that glistened when the light hit it the right way. Everly was here, but not quite tangible. The people I stood next to were different from the people that I stand next to nowadays.
There were four feet in my favorite picture as opposed to two. Unfortunately, that is something that doesn't sit well with me. But let me introduce you to epiphany #2 for this shindig. There isn't a darn thing I can do about my past. Except to learn from it. It is funny to me that I say that because I often find myself making exceptions for mistakes I have made in the past just to be happy. Hopefully, I will grow out of that. Soon.
I am sure that you are asking yourself if this will ever get to a climax. Or maybe if I will reveal what today marks. But sorry to disappoint you, I am going to have to let you continue to fill in the blanks on your own for that one. I promised myself I would never tell you too much. If I told you everything that was on my mind, each entry would be equivalent to a decent novel.
Until next time, I will most likely replay my favorite memories a total of 15 more times before I clock out for the night. And I can't help but imagine what another 365 days of this crazy life will hold for me. That's 730 days from the original April 30th of my life. Just in case you couldn't do that quick math like me. Because I love numbers.
I have spent the last two years telling myself that starting a blog would be something fun to occupy myself with. Something that I could just unload and display all of my thoughts, adventures, and epiphanies on to. So here it goes. Welcome to my life that is overflowing with pirouettes, boarding passes, and incredibly adorable pictures of my niece Everly.
It is difficult to choose one event to kick off the first chapter of my so-called "online diary". A complicated one at that. But it is better that we become a little more acquainted with each other before I reveal all my deepest and darkest secrets.
I was born March 6, 1996 at Anderson Memorial Hospital in the one and only Anderson, South Carolina. A small town surrounded by two (in my opinion) of the most interestingly named counties there are, Gluck and Honea Path. And for those of you who are not familiar with the area, the names are all you need to draw your own conclusions on the types of places these are. By the way, there are two others just like me in the Walker family. Jennie Rebekah, who is a whopping 12 years older than me. And Zachariah Mark, who is nine years my elder. Growing up with siblings much older than me had its disadvantages, but mostly advantages. There was always someone for me to watch The Andy Griffith Show with. Always someone to sneak me an extra cookie after Mom said we had eaten enough sugar. Always someone to cuddle up next to after a bad dream. Always someone to coach me on how to react when the belt came after my butt so that I didn't get more spankings than I could handle. I never seemed to listen to that one though. I was pretty consistent on reminding my mom that I had "buns of steel", which was NEVER beneficial for me. Anyways! I grew up with a tight knit family. At 3, we relocated to where we have been for the past 14 years. I consider myself lucky to be able to say that I have lived in the same small town for 14 consecutive years. Sometimes I wish that parents would have chosen a different place to raise us kids. But when I take a step back, I realize that half of the reason I am the way I am is because I grew up in a place where everybody knows everybody and their brother. If I had grown up in a city, Atlanta for example, I probably wouldn't stop in the middle of a stroll downtown to converse with my best friend's grandma. Or I would be able to sit in a coffee shop without interruptions. Some people may say that the coffee shop thing without interruptions is what they want. But ya see, that's the difference between them and me. I can honestly say that if that were to miraculously happen one day, I would get lonely very quickly. I met my first and still one of my best friends Alexis when I was four years old. We lived on the same street. I get to drive alongside water and a beautiful sunset every evening. I still see my kindergarten teacher around town sometimes and blame her for the way I dot my i's. Even on the days when my only wish is to escape from the gossip and happenings of this place, it's the little things like that that remind me not to take it for granted. As cliche as that sounds, it's true.
So by the time I have finished my first ever blogpost, it has rained for the past three hours. Straight. I have let out my most favoritest dog Tucker, and he has left a lovely track of mud leading from the door for me to clean up later. There will most likely be a large puddle waiting for me at my car door when I go to get into my car on my way to school in the morning. But all of those things are okay. Because I know that I will get to see that water and that sunset at the end of the day tomorrow.
