Wednesday, October 7, 2015

In Grade 10

Away at school in Regina, living in a girls' dormitory, apparently there were plenty of sleepless or at least late nights for a 16-year-old girl:



Why I don't sniff at Ouija boards:



Several years ago I discovered a high school friend on FB and she remembered me as a daddy's girl. I had no memory of this ever being so, unless maybe when I had been a baby. I recall a lot of butting heads when I was a teenager! However ... one thing I know is that memory isn't reliable. 




April 1, 1975
What I need is self-discipline. I learned that to get my own way with my parents when they've said no to something is not to sulk but to more or less, in a sense, martyr yourself keep the old pleasant smile on and act like you've accepted the refusal with grace.

And this, which made me laugh out loud:

My school work is very important to me — there are only 2 things in this world that mean anything to me right now at all, and my marks are one of them because I have high ambitions and I'm going to need the same kind of marks. Unfortunately I've blown that this year by slacking off on everything and tossing all self-discipline out the window. There's no one to blame but myself so as of now I'm going to try to whip myself back into shape by concentrating completely on academic subjects. That's just not in my nature but I'll have to think positive — it's going to be a pain in the ass.

And this, about my youngest sister Joan and our brother Cameron, also younger than me:



Thank goodness our sibling relationships have changed! I count myself lucky that people are forgiving and we all get along so well now.

Every weekend, I told myself, I'll make my way through one of these journals. It could take the entire four days I have off, because there is a lot of repetitive, boring stuff to skim over. I'll tear out what's worth keeping, what is a reasonable example of what life was like at the time and how I felt about it, and relegate the rest to a burning barrell. Ya gotta start sometime, said I; there's no point in waiting any longer.

Looking at this first one, kept as an assignment for an English teacher, it's easy to see that 40 years isn't that long ago.

Goodbye, journal of Grade 10, girl of 16. I hereby relegate you to the dust heaps of history.