55 years 55 Memories

To commemorate my 55th birthday I’ve compiled a list of 55 memories from 55 years. Well, actually only 54 years since I just turned 55 today! I had to omit many for being too incriminating, or just too personal to share here. 😉

They are not at all in any order, the good, the bad, and the ugly, and they are all the experiences that make me, me!

Living on Palomar Mountain

The Radiohead concert in Santa Barbara with Shannon that started the relationship with my husband

My first Grateful Dead concert, life changing

Having my first painting accepted into a juried art gallery

Summers camping at the beach in San Elijo, 1975-1988

My first real kiss

Jumping off the cliff, passing out mid air, and landing on my back, the rescue, and the painful aftermath.

The crash that totaled my 1969 Karmann Ghia

Living on the streets at 13 years old

Going down to Tijuana with friends, bar hopping till dawn and somehow not getting arrested or killed. Too many times.

Camping in the Joshua Tree desert under the stars because we forgot the tent poles

Our wedding day 5/29/10

Honeymoon hikes in Zion

The four months I spent in the mental hospital

Breaking into an abandoned house in the ghost town of Jerome, AZ

Flying over San Diego in a 2 seat airplane

Parasailing over the cliffs of Del Mar

White water rafting the Poudre River and nearly dying after being ejected from the raft

Watching my father die 7/7/96

Watching my mom die 12/9/24

Getting matching tattoos with my best friend

The day I sold my first painting

Finding my mom lying in a pool of blood, screaming

The first time I ate sushi with my friend Alina, I’ve been hooked ever since

Spending my 30th birthday in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico

Watching a steel pole from a swing set go through my friend’s head while we were playing. It narrowly missed his brain and he survived

Stealing a car, throwing a raging adult party while my parents were on a cruise, I was 12

Dying my hair black in the bathroom of a movie theater the first day I ran away from home when I was 13

The day Shady Grove died 10/13/24

The time I accidentally got on the wrong 8-seater airplane during a layover in Seattle and was stranded in a tiny airport in Idaho with only hunters

Cracking my head open at a concert, the band stopped so the paramedics could get me off the floor. I still see the scar across my forehead every day

The time I almost got married, but called it off the night before

Attending a polo match in Santa Barbara with all the local elite followed by an amazing dinner alfresco

My first real art show with my friend Xavier

Going to car shows with my dad

The first Street Scene music festival I attended with my husband, the line up was amazing in 2008

Riding my horse with my pack of dogs for hours and miles in the countryside

The Mother/Daughter Art Show I did with my Mom

My first time in New York with my mom, aunt and uncle

Seeing David Bowie for the first time in Los Angeles

Playing in the snow in Idyllwild for the first time with my husband, Fireball

Getting food poisoning on our very first weekend getaway together, both of us, one bathroom, 4 days of hell

Taking the train up to Santa Barbara for the first time to visit my cousin

Almost being kidnapped in Mexico on horseback when I was 11

Summers at my grandpas ranch, living off the land

Finding all the presents wrapped hiding in the motorhome, from Santa when I was 6

Seeing The Cure from the front row on my 14th birthday while frying on acid 

Hanging out with my dad in the garage while he was building one of his cars

Baking my first sourdough bread

Being forced to rock repel on a school mountain trip, terrifying and satisfying

The time I went into anaphylactic shock at the allergist office, my first Epi stab

My first real mosh pit Knights of Columbus punk show, 1985 

Getting caught in a riptide and carried out to sea on my boogie board when I was 9

Seeing LCD Soundsystem in Pomona on the last day of our honeymoon with Shannon

The first time I met my husbands family for Thanksgiving, they made me feel like family

Thank you for reading!😊

68 replies to “55 years 55 Memories”

  16. Great recounting of your 54 years. You had some wild and fun times, along with some sad times. But we all end up with sad times; however not everyone can confess to having great wild times. Happy 55th birthday. Your list reminded me we have the same day in May for our wedding anniversaries.

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  29. What a list!!! I couldn’t stop reading. This one demands a longer story: “Jumping off the cliff, passing out mid air, and landing on my back, the rescue, and the painful aftermath.” Happy Birthday. Glad you survived your list.

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    1. Thank you Judy! Yes, many stories, and these are only the tame ones that I could post! 😂 The cliff jumping experience was when I was 16, hanging out with a bunch of boys, drinking, at a popular, illegal spot that had several elevations where kids jumped into a pool of water. I was only at the 30ft jump and after a few beers, earned the courage to jump! I passed out and landed flat on my back, ouch! Someone jumped in and rescued me, I was really discombobulated. My entire body was bruised from the back of my head, back, arms, legs, I couldn’t sit for weeks! No more jumping for me!😉

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