What was I like as a teenager? This is kind of a hard question to answer because I think I changed a lot from the person I was at 13 to the person I was at 19. I had certain things happen in my life that I think helped me to be who I am. When I was in the 6th grade a couple of traumatic events happened in my life. These events started to shape my life into the person I was to become. My 5th grade teacher who I loved and adored died in a traffic accident. I remember walking around and around my yard questioning God. That made me question life, the existence of god and realize how unfair life can be.
I belonged to a youth group at my (Methodist) church. We went on a weekend trip to Suttle Lake in the Willamette mountains in the winter. Being from the coast I was excited to be in the snow. Several other youth groups were there at the same time. They had lots of activities planned for us to do. One of the activities was to hike around the lake. That sounded like fun to me so off we went. I think there were 6 or 7 of us plus three adult men. It started out ok but after awhile we were walking in knee deep unplowed snow. We got about 1/2 way around the lake and it was starting to get dark. The adults with us decided this wasn’t going to work because we were all very tired and cold and slow and they weren’t sure where we were. So one of the men left on his own, made it to a road, flagged someone down to give him a ride back to the camp at Suttle Lake. Once there he got snowshoes and flashlights for all of us. He then drove back as near as he could to us and eventually arrived with the snowshoes and flashlights. We just hunkered down and stayed where we were until he returned. We had a blanket to sit on. I remember putting on the snow shoes and figuring how to walk with them. The key was to take big steps. Most of the others had trouble with the snow shoes. Once I figured them out, I was off. I was the first to arrive back on the road and at the car. I was surprised at the energy I suddenly had. I found I have a big desire for survival and that I can count on myself to be ok.
I was very quiet, shy and naive when I was a teenager. I didn’t have close girlfriends for most of my high school years. I’d had several girlfriends in the lower grades but in high school everyone seemed to find someone else to relate to and be with. I really couldn’t relate with any of the groups. I remember walking around school by myself trying to look like I was busy and going somewhere., busy with something. Finally when I was a junior a new girl moved to Toledo. We became best friends and she was very popular. That helped to make me and my classmates see things in a new light. I started feeling better about myself, now I had a friend to do things with.
I never knew what to say around boys, I felt very intimidated. My dad was the only boy I was ever around. He wasn’t around much because he worked all of the time. so boys were always a mystery to me. I used to blush a lot. That made me very self-conscious. There was a weekly teenage dance in Toledo. I went to the teenage dance a couple times and dances at the high school a few times. No one ever asked me to dance. This was when guys had to ask girls to dance, girls didn’t do the asking. I’m sure I wouldn’t have anyway. That didn’t help my self esteem. I thought I’d never have a boyfriend or get married. When I was a senior my best friend, my sister and I would go to dances in nearby Newport. There, no one knew me and I got asked to dance a lot. That was so nice and helped me to gain confidence and feel better about myself.
I learned how to cook, bake, sew and knit from taking 4-H. I loved doing all of those things. I also took an oil painting class in the 6th grade and loved it. I kept painting through out high school. I sewed most of my clothes from the 6th grade on. It was fun to get the material and patterns and sew them in the summer while school was out. I got 1st place for the cake I baked in 4-H at the Lincoln County Fair one summer and got to enter my cake in the State Fair. I liked to keep busy and have something to do. I also remember reading lots of books and magazines and going to the beach a lot in the summer. I started working when I was 16 to save money for college. I sewed head scarfs and tried to sell them at my Dad’s grocery store. One summer I stayed with my grandma and worked in a nearby strawberry cannery.
My family would go to Fort Stevens to camp for two weeks for our vacation every summer. My sister and I had lots of fun walking around the campgrounds and the nearby town of Seaside. We made lots of friends with the other teenagers. The summer before my senior year my Dad and I were at the beach at the Peter Iredale. I decided to go jump the waves. As I got closer to the water I noticed a man out beyond the waves calling for help. There was an overturned rowboat type boat out in the waves with him. I started to go towards him to help him out of the water but soon realized that would not be a good idea. We would probably both drown. I ran back to let Dad know what was going on. Dad went to stand by the beach (Dad couldn’t swim) and keep his eye on the man and I ran down the beach to find help. I had my drivers license by then, so the plan was to get back to the parking lot and the car and drive to the ranger station for help. As I got near to the parking lot I spotted the park rangers coming down the beach in their truck. I was able to stop them and let them know about the guy needing help. They were able to rescue him but his companion didn’t make it. It was a great feeling to help save a life. My Mom said she thought this event changed me. I think it helped me to see how quickly life can change and helped me to appreciate what I have.
I’m not sure this really explains what I was like as a teenager. I think these different events that happened in my life help to shape me into the person I have become.
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