Writer's Write
Sometimes, the most intriguing stories are true.
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Lovely
I'm not sure what your belief is about where our souls live before we are born. Before, as in before the sperm and the egg play that fateful game of hide and seek. Which, as a side note, is a funny visual - the egg getting cozy in the lining of the uterus only to be bombarded with a bajillion sperm racing around yelling, "I'm gonna find it first!" But before all of that happens - I believe - in a sci-fi, non religious sort of way - that my sister and I were on the lookout for our next set of parents. And one day, my sister spotted our soon-to-be mom and soon-to-be dad and said, "There they are!" And I said, "They are awfully young, I think we should keep looking." And she said, "No, I really think they are the people who are going to teach us the most about life on Earth." And I said, "They are awfully young, I think we should keep looking." And she said, "Trust me." And I said, "Ok, but you go first." And she agreed, with the caveat that I come right behind her. So we were born to an 18-year-old mom and a 19-year-old dad and arrived within 16 months of each other. When I was born, my sister held my hand and welcomed me into the family. From that day to this - my sister has a firm grip of my hand and we travel this life together. Before. And now. Sister Well, my version of the before would be something like this, a much less romantic version. Boy meets girl. Girl falls in love with boy. Their love is a forbidden sort of love. It's the 60's. He is black. She is white. They are in high school. He's charming. She feels alive around him. I knew from the beginning they wouldn't NOT be together. I chose them. I'm drawn to excitement, passion, and a good fight-drama. I knew this should be our journey, Lovely and me. I also knew I could never, not once along this lifetime, go it alone. So, we rock-paper-scissored it. I lost and went first. Ha. That's not true. I'm the oldest, the number one daughter, the big sister. It has always been my duty to enter the family first. Two babies were coming within 16 months of each other, all before our soon-to-be mom turned 21. Yep. I needed to arrive first, get the lay of the land so that when Lovely arrived, we would be ready. Yes, I knew they were going to teach us about surviving life, but what you didn't realize Lovely, was that we would be teaching them too. Hand in hand, always together.
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 When I was 16 years old I applied to work at Arby's fast food restaurant. A humble beginning but my older sister worked there with a few of my friends and it always seemed like they were having a good time, serving roast beef sandwiches with a side of special sauce.
My mother was an employment development professional, building a career working with hourly wage employees, factory workers and top executives, preparing them, coaching them, inspiring them to be successful in their job search. Well, as her teenage daughter, I was subject to all of her inconvenient wisdom and embarrassing knowledge. I wrote my first resume in preparation for my first job experience. At Arby's! I wanted my sister to just bring home an application but that was not happening on my mother's watch. So, I went there to pick up the application personally. Of course I wanted to sit down in the booth and fill it out right then. But no. I brought the application home, made a copy just in case I made a mistake in filling it out and after making sure everything was spelled correctly and my writing was legible, I made a copy, as coached, to use as a reference guide for future job applications. I returned the next day and asked to speak to the manager, as I was not to leave my application with some kid at the counter (rolling eyes). The manager reluctantly came out from the back. I will name him James. I am pretty sure James was high. But his glassy eyes didn't deter me. I proudly presented him my completed application and my very first resume (which consisted of babysitting and lawn mowing which I really only did once or twice). He took my resume and application, stared at me like I was an hallucination and hired me on the spot. Why is this moment important? The biggest reason, our first jobs matter! They matter because they are the content of our future resumes. Second, the annoyingly tedious preparation allowed me to walk into that restaurant and feel confident about my skills, my abilities, myself. It didn't matter if he read my application or my resume. I knew what it said and I was prepared to sell him on why I was qualified to do the job. Third, my networking opportunities grew by one that day. James would be important when applying to my next job (a real, non-family reference!). I loved working at Arby's with my sister and my friends. We had a blast. And the amazing part - I had no idea that there was so much work that went into applying for a part-time hourly job. Not everybody gets the job. But that day, I did! "Beef and Cheese with a side of fries? Coming right up!" |