Who am I?

I am from Germany, Denmark, Holland, Ireland, and Scotland.
I am from traditional Luthern and Methodist.
I am from Sunday dinners with the family follows by a nap.
I am from dirt roads and city streets.
I am from corn fields and feed lots.
I and from semi trucks and John Deere tractors.
I am from "high fashion" and torn jeans with an old t-shirt and boots.
I am from helping your neighbors and fighting with nature to survive.
I am from riding motorcycles and 4-wheelers with my Dad.
I am from scuffed up knees and "It's a long way from your heart."
I am from calloused hands and loving hearts.

When you're trying to get to know someone, you always ask what they do for fun, or what their favorite color is.  But that isn't all of who they are.  They have a story that runs deeper than the questions you are asking, and its hard sometimes to truely know someone, unless you have lived their life. Some things in their past are hard to put into words and the things that shaped them, may be unknown even to them.  We all react differently to certain things, and our reactions to situations are what make us unique.  They are as unique as our fingerprints.

It's a difficult question to answer, "Who am I?".  It's an odd feeling trying to explain to someone all you hopes and dreams, what makes you tick, and how events in your past have shaped you. I think that one of the hardest parts about talking about yourself, is feeling like the people you are talking to will judge you.  I could go on for quite a while telling you things about me.  My favorite color is blue.  I love cats.  I would love to live in Colorado.  I wear a size 8 shoe.  But from those facts do you feel like you know me? No, of course not.  Those are just random facts, they won't help you understand how I think, my quirky sense of humor, or my hopes and dreams for the future.

I am from the country.  I have been born and raised on a farm just outside of Hordville, NE, population 142 people.  I think that living in a small community is a big part of my history.  In Hordville, you may not know the person you're talking to, but chances are that they know your parents or grandparents.  I've grown accustomed to having people come up to me and say, " Are you Brian and Shawna's daughter?" To which i respond, " Yes I am. How do you know them?"  When I was younger, I found it weird that everybody knew eachother.  But know I think its pretty cool.  I mean if you go to bigger cities, they might not even know their next door neighbor.  To me it is a special thing to know that your neighbors want to see you do well in life and will try and help you if they can. 


I think that seeing my community work together has made me want to help people.  I also know that i want to help open others eyes to the huge world that is out there.  That's why I want to be a teacher.  But I'm not just thinking about my past.  I love my heritage and hearing stories about past generations.  My family came to the United States from Germany, Denmark, Holland, Ireland, and Scotland.  I know that a lot of families decend from these countries, but I am proud of my heriatage.  One really important thing to me is carrying on family traditions.  My family has a tradition that every Christmas Eve we go to church and watch the children do a program.  From the time we enter the parochial school in kindergarten to the time we are eight graders, we all have to participate in the program.  Everyone on my Dad's side of the family have been in this program.  My Dad, his siblings, my great grandparents, my grandparents, all have participated.  Our church is 128 years old, and we were one of the founding families, needless to say, this is a very big tradition in my family.  After the program is over the elders always hand out bron paper sacks that have peanuts, and apple or an orange, chocolate stars, and then sometimes they will have more "modern" treats, like Reese Peanut Butter Cups in them.  It's always a treat and the night doesn't seem quite complete until they hand you a paper bag. 

It is amazing how sometimes on the road of life, we will find things that so accurately describe us.  My song is by country music artist, Tim McGraw.  "My Little Girl" really captures the essence of a father-daughter bond and I feel that this song really describes my relationship with my father.  Growing up he wasn't around much.  My Dad has been work all his life to support his family and so when I was little I'd be in bed by the time he got home, and he'd be gone when I woke up in the morning.  But over the years, since we started riding motorcycle together, our bond has grown.  And now every time I hear this song I think of my Dad, because it totatlly describes us.  I am his little girl. 

It's hard to be able to really get to know someone in a short amount of time, unless you ask the right questions.  Each person is an individual and so to get to know them can be tricky business, but in the end it can be such a joy to have, at least a small understanding of someone.