The Mile Marker blocks for the Road Trip Quilt by Kate & Tammy this week had me reflecting on life and how road signs and landmarks along the way are similar to mile markers.
Mile markers indicate the distance to a town or rest stop or gas stations and restaurants. They often indicate major rivers or bridges, state lines and rest stops.
Life is an adventure! And in life there are milestones that we approach... sometimes enthusiastically, sometimes with trepidation.
A birthday is an annual marker... some seem more significant than others... a first birthday, the 16th birthday when so many of us were eligible to get our driver's license, the 18th (in my case for 3.2% beer) or 21st when you could purchase beer or alcohol or visit a bar to celebrate the occasion with long island iced teas... and a few more mile markers along the way... like the 30th (mine came and passed inconspicuously because we were a little pre-occupied with a recent move and awaiting to hear the news that my MIL had "graduated" to heaven), 40th (when my sweet hubby planned a surprise party for me because my 30th had been overlooked) or 50th...
I think more importantly than a number (like actual mile markers), I think major events are representative of landmarks... You know like the Mississippi River, or the Grand Canyon. In the adventure of life we have big events that help to shape who we are...
I outlined a few of these four years ago when I turned 50... A few significant moments that I will never, ever forget...
- My high school graduation...
- The Freshmen-Sophomore mixer at TSJC where I first met Dave...
- The day Dave and I made vows to love each other... in sickness & health, for rich or for poor, 'til death do we part...
- The moment we found out we were pregnant!
- The moment we learned that the baby miscarried...
- The moment we learned, again, that we were pregnant!
- The arrival of our first-born child...
- The moment we learned that we would welcome another baby!
- Arriving at the hospital to deliver baby #2 and hearing the nurse run down the hall after examining me, yelling "Margaret! We're going to have a baby!" (The Dr. was across town at the other hospital and they were concerned that I would deliver before she could arrive)... the Dr. did make it, btw...
- The day Dave received a job notice for an opening in the Gunsmithing department at Trinidad State Junior College... His interview day... The day he received a job offer...
- The day we closed on a house that we had never actually seen... Yes, we may be a bit crazy!
- The day I moved our oldest daughter into her dorm room for the first time...
- The day we became "empty-nesters"...
- Seeing both of our daughters say "I do"...
- Watching the birth of our first grand-child...
- When we decided that being self-employed was something we were being led to do and applied for all the necessary business licenses and zoning ordinances required
Thanks for joining on my little jaunt down memory lane!
What are some of the significant landmarks in your life?
Leave a comment... I love getting to know my readers.
Quilt Happy!
Melva
Melva Loves Scraps - Home of the Quilters Through The Generations series
Linking with:
Main Crush Monday at Cooking Up Quilts
Moving It Forward Monday at Em's Scrap Bag
BOMs Away at What A Hoot Quilts
Pieceful Sunday at JANDA Bends Quilts
Oh Scrap! at Quilting is More Fun Than Housework
UFO Busting at Tish In Wonderland
WIP Linky Party at Silly Mama Quilts
Linky Tuesday at Freemotion by the River
Wednesday Wait Loss at The Inquiring Quilter
Midweek Makers at Quilt Fabrication
WOW at Esther's Quilt Blog
Landmarks of my life...the day I went from having a brother to being an only child my senior year of high school, the day I got married, the days I found out I was pregnant (4 times), the day I had a miscarriage, the births of my three daughters, the day I got divorced, when I married my second husband, the day I became a grandmother, the day my mother went home to be with my brother, and the day I moved in with my dad to care for him (and left hubby holding down the fort at home) for what I thought would be a few months, yet I'm still here 3 years later. Blessed to know the gift of love in so many packages and that it doesn't end, ever.
ReplyDeleteLovely sentiment. Thanks for sharing, Melva.
ReplyDeleteYour post today is inspiring me to do some journaling about my own life's landmarks. It's been too long since I did any "real" journaling. Thank you
ReplyDeleteI am a sucker for green and purple quilts. I hope I dont miss the finish on this one.
ReplyDeleteHi Melva! Reading your significant life markers made me smile and gave me the chills. Lots of significants in there, and most of them are very happy events. All those different events brought you to where you are today and formed you. A very reflective post today, and makes me think as well. ~smile~ Roseanne
ReplyDeleteYour Milemarker blocks are so pretty. I see some common memories among us - you've prompted a fun walk down Memory Lane, thanks, Melva. :)
ReplyDeleteLove your Milemarker blocks. Sometimes it's funny/weird what we think of as mile markers. For the first few years after my father passed, I thought of recent events as BDD and ADD, before dad's death and after dad's death. I would think of things and have a hard time remembering if he had been here to share in it.
ReplyDeleteYou're quite right about the journey. Loved reading your "mile markers." Makes me want to reflect on my "mile markers" as well. Your blocks are wonderful! Love the different sizes. Thanks for sharing on Wednesday Wait Loss.
ReplyDeleteLovely blocks, and a great list of memories! I, too, share a few of those, and have yet to experience some.
ReplyDelete