Throwback Thursday

I have enjoyed many of your Throwback Thursday photos and stories posted on Facebook, Twitter, and other social media sites.  After much consideration, I have decided it is time to open my old photo albums and share some of my adventures.  You may or may not believe this, but I was a tomboy.  A card carrying tomboy, to be exact.  Yes, I liked playing with my dolls and Barbie's, but I also had just as much fun, if not more, playing G.I. Joe's with my brothers, climbing trees, fishing at the local pond, and digging through an abandoned barn for a treasure (although all we ever found was old manure and electrical wire).


Yes, that is me in the blue shirt waiting excitedly for the raccoon.

It may come as a surprise to some that I had absolutely no problem keeping up with my brothers.  Well, I did have one problem:  my mother.  There was only so much tomboy she was going to allow.  I'm pretty sure I drove her crazy playing baseball, soccer, and football with my brothers and their friends.

She would lament the number of bruises which covered my legs from ankle to thigh.  On Sunday mornings, she'd put me in a dress and tights and before we ever arrived at church, my tights would be covered in holes from where I had to go "rescue" a cat stranded in a tree.  Oh how she would grumble and complain the very second we exited the car in the church parking lot and she'd see my tights.

Oh yes, this redhead could climb a tree faster than any boy in the neighborhood, my brothers included.  I was also very thin, so I could climb up higher in the trees to where my brothers didn't dare follow as the limbs would creak and groan from their weight.  It was a great hiding spot after I had annoyed or taunted them mercilessly......... generally within an inch of my life..... or maybe I should say a few branches of my life.

I was pretty fearless in my youth and a couple of these photos are indicative of my crazy redheaded wild side, which still gets loose from me from time to time.



Yes, that's crazy young me with the snake around my neck.

As I got older, the tomboy side of me gave way to my mother's urgings to act like a young lady.  My mother was tickled pink as the girlie things took root.  I went from wearing a snake around my neck, to wearing necklaces and earrings.




When I was modeling back in the 80's



The transformation from mud encrusted, grass stained clothing, to skirts and hair bows was complete when I started modeling locally.  My mother not only had the somewhat feminine daughter she longed for since I was born, but had gained a shopping buddy as well.  From that point on, it became tea and petit fours, manicures and spa days, and laying by the pool while drinking pretty pink lemonade.

 



But the transformation wasn't quite as complete as she'd hoped for.  I still enjoy throwing a football with my husband and kids, as well as studying lizards, toads, and minnows in their natural environments, and I still like jumping in water puddles and digging in the dirt.

There is a quote I heard which has stuck with me for years: 
"Youth is a wonderful thing. What a crime to waste it on children." ~ George Bernard Shaw.  I don't think I'll ever leave my youth completely behind.  The redhead in me most likely won't allow for it.

After some introspection, I have discovered that Throwback Thursdays are important.  They help remind us as we go about living our daily hectic and harried adult lives, to kick back and rediscover the things we found so fascinating, intriguing, and fun as children.  So let's go view the world with wonder again!  What's your Throwback Thursday story for this week?

Written by Christie Bielss