12 Random Facts. Wanna Play?

…it can be fun…even if it has gone the rounds (has it? I’m new to OS).
12 Random facts about your life. There are no rules.
12 Random Facts About My Life
1 – I was a competitive gymnast from 7 to 15. Until I had kids and nieces, I didn’t know a straight leg cartwheel was unusual.
2 – My dad was in the circus as a trapeze artist. He did a round off, flip flop, back flip at age 34, right after the meet I won 3 first place ribons, including first all around. This high point of my gymnastics career happened before I was 10. My picture was in the newspaper.
3 – One of the first stories I wrote was about 2 friends walking accross the street. One of them gets hit by a car and dies. The rest of the story is about how the friend grieves. In my head they were grown ups. I was 10.
4 – I drove from central Illinis to Raleigh/Durham and back by myself in a blue Ford Escort 2 times in near complete silence over a 6 month period. I listened to the radio for an hour tops on the first trip. On the second trip it was broken. I remember being perfectly content with the conversation in my head. I was 24 and busily setting up “my ideal life” scenarios.
5 – I had a miraculous experince at a Native American healing retreat and didn’t realize anything unusual happened until I told someone else about my experience there and as I got to the amazing part, we both held our breath. He laughed in a loving way as elders sometimes do, giving me permission to be awed by a stunning moment in my own seemingly unimportant life. Then I cried.
6 – I once wrote a list of 100 dreams, things I want to have, do or be during my life time. It took several days to write. 2 days after I wrote #36, “Pass out white roses to residents of a nursing home and take all mobile residents on an outing of their choice,” a guy who wanted to date me gave me 9 white roses. I didn’t see it as a sign I should go out with this man who I wasn’t romantically interested in. I did see it as a sign that the list is good and my dreams are possible.
7 – I tend not to write about what’s currently going on in my life as if writing it will make living it less real.
8 – I quit smoking suddenly in 96, after 9 years at 1 1/2 to 2 packs a day. I had been saying the affirmation, “I am non smoker,” for 2 weeks and was gifted by the mysterious powers that be with a terrifying experience that I might try to put in words one day. Not today.
9 – When I read a good novel, I become one of the characters in real life for a while. I’m careful what I read. Anne of Green Gables and The Little House Series were lots of fun.
10 – I used to be shy and still tend to hide behind a series of funny remarks that reflect how illogical people, myself included, can be. I like to make people laugh.
11 – I was a waitress for 11 years because I like people. I always wondered if people thought I was being nice just to get a good tip. It made me sad to think of human interactions as being phony just for $. I know, wake up and smell reality. No thank you. I like my fantasy world where people tell the truth and are for real. I believe courtesy, sincerity and trustworthiness will be the norm in the future, even if humanity has to wait hundreds of years.
12 – Leo Buscaglia is my hero. He passionately calls people out of their lonely boxes, daring them to connect, give life their best and make loving the people in their life their first, second and third priorities. He will always be known as the crazy Italian guy who loved to hug.