Six Words Isn't Easy

Well, I have received my first tag ever. Karen over at Mummy Blog (love the babies!), has tagged me to answer the question, "Which six words would you choose as a memoir?" If anyone knows me, I'm a jabberer. Wow, I don't know if that's a word, but whatever. :) Anyway, I can barely make a six word only sentence, much less sum up my whole life in six words. Luckily I've only lived 28 years, and have no kids to claim, and really, we all know one of those words is LOVE.

So, it is with trepidation that I accept this challenge, Karen!

Now, my six words:

Struggle, laughter, loss, joy, scapegoat, love.

I would like to reserve the choice to change these, since the rules aren't really stating I shouldn't!

My reasons why I chose these:

Struggle: I had very bad asthma growing up. Because of this, it was a struggle to breathe, to play sports, to do well in school since I missed so much of it, to be NORMAL. When I'd have an attack, I was incapacitated for days. I missed out on school assignments, I wasn't able to play sports like a normal kid, and it was just so hard to see what my sickness did to my family. All because of my illness, many things were affected- our bank accounts, holidays, birthdays... a chance to be at the LA Zoo with Sesame Street, but noooo... I was not breathing. DAMN.

Laughter: despite the unhappiness of my parents, we had a great deal of laughter in our lives. Our extended families, both maternal and paternal, were usually quite jokey, with many inside jokes "outsiders" (used loosely, as many who started as outsiders quickly became insiders!) had a hard time understanding. We were/are a close family, and I think a big part of that is due to the laughter. There were many hardships our families faced, and in my humble opinion, I think laughter helped. Three or so days before Christmas, my grandma passed away. Christmas day was usually spent at her house, the family gathering together for our annual get-together. Needless to say, that Christmas after her death was not a good one for us. My cousin Mike brought something to cheer us up: the rarely seen South Park Christmas Card (he had connections). That Christmas we watched the filthy-mouthed children on the program and laughed harder than we had been able to for years. It's ironic, as one of the South Park producers is a parent at Paul's school, and I have been able to thank him and his buddies for giving us a reason to be happy that Christmas.

Loss: I think every life is tainted with loss. Whether it be a sibling, a grandparent, a pet, a friend; due to death, fighting or distance. I know my own life has been touched. I've lost a few pets to death, both long time pets and sick birds that landed in our yard. I've lost friends to misunderstandings, and sadly a few to death. I've lost my brother to a whole different country on the other side of the world, along with that I've lost the ability to get to know my niece as well as I'd like. I've also lost my grandma, the matriarch of our family to an illness that robbed the family of the essence of her many years before her death. I'm not angry about losing people or pets (although one frog's death haunts me: RIP-ibit Frogwarts!) or friendships, after all it is part of life. As you can see, it was a big part of mine.

Joy: I've been told that I have a joyful personality. Even when I'm down, I try to bring others up. I've always been happy, always had a smile on my face or a laugh in my throat. Sometimes I feel it's my personal duty to make people happier. Maybe this is why I love Disneyland so much, people are always happy there (give or take the tantruming children and the exhausted and snippy parents). I love to make people happy. I love to laugh and to smile, and to make others laugh and smile. Although sometimes I get down, it's easy for me to get up again. Sometimes, though, this need to make others happy leads me to:

Scapegoat: Growing up in a turbulent family, I learned to project any and all squabbles to me. Someone was fighting? Oops, look what I dropped on the floor. Someone else getting punished? No, I was the one who ate that candy. I still do that sometimes, deflecting. I do it at work, I do it with friends, I even do it with my parents.

Love: Needs no explanation. I am loved, I do love, I have loved.

Now, I tag you, Tricia, Beth, Limoncello, Anita, and Pinkblot.

If you aren't interested, that is okay. I know many of you are busy, are planning your own weddings, or helping to plan others' weddings. You don't have to do this, I just know many of you are so eloquent and have so much to say. It's harder than it sounds!