The Watch

When my grandpa graduated high school in 1940, his parents gave him a beautiful gold wristwatch (the watch was a Bulova brand watch, so it was the "top of the line"). Grandpa was very disappointed in the gift, and in a not-so-subtle way Grandpa let his parents know how disappointed he was to have not received a car (which is what he was hoping to receive for his graduation). In Grandpa's words, he was a real brat. That act of ingratitude has always been something that Grandpa has regretted. Grandpa had the opportunity to apologize several times, but his pride and embarrassment prevented him from doing so longer than it should've; however, he did finally apologize to his parents. (And when Grandpa came home from serving in the war his dad did buy him a car; a maroon, four-door 1945 Nash Ambassador that Grandpa said resembled an upside down bathtub.)

At the reunion Grandpa told us the story of the watch and urged any of us that might have regrets to make them right before it's too late. I took a video of Grandpa telling the story, so click here if you're interested in hearing the story from my grandpa in his own words. (In the video Grandpa gets the brand of the watch confused and he mistakenly called it an Elgin watch, but at the end of the video Grandma sets Grandpa straight and tells him the brand of the watch is actually a Bulova.)

The "Zimmerman Nose"

I love noticing family resemblances in people. I think it's interesting how in some families the parents and siblings all look a lot alike and you know that they all belong to the same family. Or how in other families the family members don't really favor each other much at all. It's difficult for me to notice the remblances between my own family members and myself. I don't really think that any of my sisters or my mom look all that much alike, but people say that I look like my mom, which I think is neat even though I can't see it because I like  resembling her. I think the reason it's so hard for me to see the similarities in my own family is because I know my mom and sisters so well that our physical differences are more apparent to me than our similarities.

That being said, when we had our Zimmerman family reunion a few weeks ago, I noticed that a lot of us share one specific physical characteristic – the "Zimmerman nose." It's not a particularly good nose, as it's the fairly long, straight sort of nose and not the small/cute, slightly upturned nose that I always wished for. The nose originates with my grandpa, and although I didn't get a good look at everyone's profile, I noticed that my mom and her brother Steve definitely have the nose as well as several of my cousins. I also have the nose, as well as my two sisters, Miriam and Annette. Sharon, not as much, and I haven't had a good look at Kristin's profile lately, so I can't make a conclusive decision about her nose, but I think it tends to favor the Johnson side of the family, instead of the Zimmerman side.

Here's the evidence: I agreed to let my sister photograph me from the side for the sake of this blog post. I've always frowned on having my picture taken from the side because I think it's an unflattering angle. (Probably since I'm not used to seeing myself from this angle.)

My mom and me: first from the front and then from the side. We definitely have the same nose.

I also found a few candid pictures from our reunion that show our nose similarities. Here they are in order: Mom and Uncle Steve, my sister Annette and Grandpa, Mom and Grandpa, Cousin Christina and Grandpa and Christina and myself. I wish I would've gotten some better profile pictures of all of us that have the Zimmerman nose, but that wasn't at the forefront of my mind at the time. :)

Another characteristic that I get from my mom (and that she gets from her dad) is white hair. I was 18 years old when I found my first white hair, and needless to say I wasn't thrilled because I knew it wasn't a freak accident, but would be the first of many! My mom started going gray in her 20's and her hair has gotten progressively whiter over the years. I'm following in her footsteps. You'd never look at my hair and know that I have some whities, but I assure you you'll find them if you look hard enough! I'm not nearly ready to be as white as my mom is yet, but I'm trying to embrace it. I just hope my hair looks as pretty and bright as my mom's does when I'm her age!

Seeing the Forest

I've recently been thinking about that expression "cannot see the forest for the trees" and what it means. Sometimes when you concentrate on the minute, insignificant details of a problem, you lose sight of the overall picture. In other words, you focus on the unimportant, rather than the important. (Very easy to do!)

Sometimes you can be going along in life, just minding your business and living normal day after normal day when something comes along to derail your life from the "normal track." A friend of mine found out that her 11-year-old daughter had a tumor on the optic nerve in her eye a few days before Christmas. For the past six months my friend has been taking her daughter to chemotherapy treatments every week; definitely not something she ever expected to be doing. Or I recently found out that one of my movie theater co-workers from back in the day was diagnosed with breast cancer at the young age of 29. It's been my experience that you know "bad things happen" to people when they become disabled, develop diseases, etc., but you never expect it to happen to YOU!

My personal experience with being being derailed from the normal track was being in a car accident and becoming permanently disabled at the age of 19. When I became paralyzed I lost a lot: the physical use of my body, the ability to breathe on my own, the ability to be independent and self-sufficient and the kind of future that I'd always assumed I'd have (i.e. being a wife and mother). I could seriously go on and on about all of the things that I lost, but at the same time there were things that I gained, too. Priceless things. Things that as a whole are far greater than the things I lost.

One of those priceless treasures I've gained is perspective. Perspective makes all the difference when going through something difficult! When I've distanced myself from my troubles, that's when I've found it easier to look at the bright side and learn lessons that have made me a better person. If/when you're confronted with an obstacle, I hope you'll be able to embrace it and find contentment as you wade through the trees.

Belated Birthday Shout-Out

I have to give a belated birthday shout-out to my dear Anderson Cooper who turned 45 last Sunday. If you know me at all, then you know how much of an Anderson Cooper fan I am. If I'm not his #1 fan, then I'm surely at the top of the list. I absolutely adore him!

There are many reasons why I adore him, but one of the biggest reasons is because I love his fair and honest approach when delivering the news. When I'm watching a news show, I want to get news from an impartial source, not someone who is going to put their spin on things. Everyone has an opinion, that's just the way humans are, but in Anderson's case you wouldn't know where he stands when watching his show AC 360°; a one-hour show that's on each week night where he reports the major news happenings of the day.

When it comes to Anderson's afternoon talkshow, Anderson, he has a way of interviewing people where he gets answers to tough questions that people want/need to hear. I love it when people are being less than truthful and he goes after them (in a tactful way) and calls them out and holds them accountable when they are being disingenuous. As I'm watching him I'm cheering him on saying, "You go, Anderson!"

He has a soft side, too. When he interviews someone who has been through something particularly difficult, painful or traumatic he's always so kind and gentle, and you can tell that he really cares about the person and he's not just asking questions to ask. He's doing more than interviewing; he's trying to make sure people's stories gets shared in such a way that other people in the world will be able to relate and benefit from.

He's really down to earth which is saying a lot since it's not uncommon for the "rich and famous" to get puffed up on their own significance.  He's also extremely funny. He's not afraid to laugh at himself and I that's a characteristic that I find that so endearing/charming.  Anderson usually ends his 360° show with a segment called the RidicuList; a lighthearted look at something that made news for being funny or ridiculous.  Take a look at this one from last week where Anderson  put himself on the RidicuList.

Anderson recently competed on Jeopardy! for "DC Power Players" week where 15 different writers, journalists and other Washington DC hotshots competed for their favorite charities. Anderson was one of these 15 power players. This wasn't his first go around on Jeopardy! – he's competed twice before. (He won the first time and lost the second time.) I was so excited to watch Anderson and cheer him on. I'm happy to say that Anderson won (although he didn't know the answer to the final Jeopardy question.) I, however, DID know the answer so I felt pretty smart, considering none of the contestants were able to come up with the answer! 

Graduation, 10 Years Later

I can't believe it's already been 10 years since I graduated high school! What a difference a decade makes! I certainly wouldn't have thought this is where my life would've taken me. I didn't know how my life would play out, but I just assumed that I would be married with several kids by now. This obviously isn't how things have played out. 18 short months after graduating high school and gaining independence, I was in a car accident that's left me paralyzed from the neck down for the rest of my earthly days. Sometimes when people meet me or find out about my situation they actually apologize to me, and tell me how sorry they are, but I always assure them that I'm okay. I'm sure it's hard for them to believe, but I've done really well and I daresay I'm one of the happiest people you'll find despite not having the normal life I always hoped and dreamed of.

Here are two pictures of me from the day I graduated high school. The first is of my mom and me, and the second is me with my grandparents. The next picture is very similar to the picture of me with my grandparents, except it's my mom on the day of her college graduation with her mom and dad. It's usually hard for me to see the resemblance between my family members and myself, but I think I kind of look like my mom in this picture. I thought it would be fun to post these two pictures next to each other on my blog.