Sweet Tea and Sunshine, Coffee and Rain

Sweet Tea and Sunshine

Coffee and Rain

Spring 2013

By: Carrie

I AM I am like that river That runs backwards.

I am a paradoxCaring Helpful Kind and loveable Selfish Conceited Bitter and hated.

I am like the weather In SeattleI can be bright and cheerful.

I can be slightly dreary I can be dreadful But I’m tolerable And never violent.

SOME FACTS ABOUT SOUTHWEST MISSOURI We’re not all inbred (seriously, look at me) We don’t all live in trailer parks 98% of us have an education higher than the 3rd grade (high school diploma status) Hardly any of us aspire to be farmers We weren’t born with a dip in our mouth Our teeth are pretty damn nice (my sister’s are perfect) Yes, we’re gigantic Nascar fans, but if you get between us and a football game, we’ll use your head for the kick off.

Don’t walk into traffic. You won’t survive.

(Seattleites slow down or stop. Missourians will run you over.)

The women are wonderful until you double-cross them. Even the Witness Protection Program can’t save you after that.

The guys are gentlemen and you better never let them hear you swear in front of a lady.

People in general are extremely generous. I watched someone literally give someone else the shirt off his back.

We like to be barefoot.

We stargaze quite a bit.

We know where “over yonder” is without someone having to point it out.

Mud is awesome.

Boo, rain! (Unless there’s a decent amount of mud afterwards.)

MY STORY

I grew up in Southwest Missouri. I know what you think of when you read that, but the following pages will explain in depth. I was raised by my father and stepmother in Monett, Missouri; a small “rich-bitch” type town (that’s what it seems like, anyways). My mother and stepfather lived fifteen minutes away in a slightly smaller backwoods type town called Aurora. I’m the oldest of five children, but not all are full blood siblings.

Though half of us lived in separate households, we’re all extremely close. Both households, however, are extremely different.

mY fATheR’S hoUSe Clean (physically and spiritually) Structured (a lot of rules, a lot of schedules) Comical (also clean, also some of the best hUmoR oUT TheRe; “if YoU’Re An AndeRSon child And YoU’Re noT in The TRUck, YoU’Re WRong.”)

Very Technological (2 Xboxes, alarm system, a thousand computers) My main upbringing was a Free Will Baptist/ Military/Hardworking/Old Fashioned oddity. I hated the experience, but it also helped shape who I am today and I am very grateful for it. In The long RUn, i gUeSS i ReAllY ShoUldn’T hAVe fought my childhood so much. My dad and stepmother and I hardly ever got along, but that changed drastically when I got older. We get along much, much better now.

THE FOUR THINGS I LEARNED ABOUT BEING A WOMAN FROM MY FATHER Be Successful Have A Good Image Be Respectful (You can really go places with respect) God Is First And Only This household is upper-middle class. My dad is a very well known and highly respected person in the area. We represented him. Image is everything, but you must glorify God in the process. I felt the stress was unbearable, so I moved to my moTheR’S When i TURned SeVenTeen…

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