1.0 The Light at the Beginning of the Tunnel
It was a warm, sunny morning in Madison, WI on July 2,1990. My mother had been in labor for almost 14 hours now and the time was finally here. That one last push was all that was needed, and I would be here. She described that moment as everything falling into silence as chaos was erupting around her. I’d love to say I was a happy and healthy baby but that’s not the case. I was in and out of the hospital for the first two years of my life. Those two years would change my life indefinitely. My health put a major strain on my mother and fathers relationship, they were constantly fighting, and ultimately it ended up in divorce.
Since my parents were divorced by the time I was 2 years old I guess I never really understood the concept, I just accepted it, until later on- but that’s a different story. My father would have us on the weekends, holidays and the summer break. He really tried to be around as much as he could. Growing up with two older brothers brought me into a tomboy-esque state in my younger years. In kindergarten I met this boy, Devon. He had long blonde hair, and bright blue eyes. Almost assuredly, he was the love of my life when I saw him playing around in the dirt. He was searching for worms, as that was one of my favorite things to do while I was playing outside. I went right up to him and started to help, I was fearless. After a few sandbox dates we decided it was only natural that we got married. We exchanged our vows and then to officially tie the knot, we both had a dead worm in our hand and we placed them into one another’s mouths- because kissing is gross and boys have cooties, right?
1.1 Wild Suburbia
I remember my best friend Melissa and I would go on these adventures behind my house. There was a huge sewer pipe behind the willow tree in my backyard. We would go out and explore all the time. I remember one time in specific: it was a rainy fall day and I had my yellow raincoat and boots on, we were always told to not go past the sewer pipe but this time we did. What was beyond the sewer pipe was unimaginable, it turned into a huge forest and there was a river with a tree fallen over to cross it- we just continued to go further and further.
In second grade, we moved out of Madison into a small city called Verona, WI and we would remain here until the end of high school. I remember I made quite the impact on my first day. I was asked what my favorite song was and without hesitation I responded, “I’m a Bitch, by Alanis Morisette”. Well, we all know where I ended up-the principles office. Who knew that you couldn’t just share your favorite song? Oops. Verona was a nice suburb, full of middle class folks and the schools were rich with diversity since our schools were combined with a bigger city called Fitchburg.
1.2 The Shift
It was the start of 5th grade, my mother used to always pack my lunches, a salad and some fruit. Well, this day was different, I had to get ‘hot lunch’ or formerly known as school lunch. It was chicken strips. Surprisingly, chicken wasn’t common in my household. We mainly focused on red meats, so I was a little nervous- as most children are when it comes to new foods. About five minutes after consumption I was having severe stomach aches. To the point where I thought someone was sticking knives into my stomach, I was warm and I was sweating excessively, I could hardly move. It turns out I had an intolerance to a specific protein in chicken that my body just could not digest. This in turn contributed to me becoming completely vegetarian. I continued to be vegetarian up until this May of 2013. It all ended when I was at the Farmers Market and my body was just craving beef jerky, there were stands of venison jerky and it smelled so delicious. When I say craving, I mean my body was cravvvvinggg this jerky. So I went with it, and my pallet has been reintroduced to these amazing flavors. I still am very conscious of the meat that I am putting into my mouth. I am only eating local, grass-fed, or hunted by my brother. For the longest time vegetarianism defined who I was as a person, so for me to begin eating meat was a huge shift for me personally, but also for my family and friends. I was vegetarian for 13 years so for them when I began to eat meat I felt like I was constantly being observed and asked a million of questions. In specific, my Aunt and I went out to lunch the other day and she said, “I have my phone ready so I can document that you’re going to eat meat.” Funny thing though, I didn’t eat meat that meal. Like I said, I am picky about where it’s coming from. Being so young and making the decision to become a vegetarian was a huge step at 10 years old.