tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6452704934227974757.post1976658566513666650..comments2023-07-27T20:23:34.043-07:00Comments on Slightly Exaggerated: Mount VernonMelissahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14007327658134711335noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6452704934227974757.post-59438855119620537072016-03-13T20:44:23.604-07:002016-03-13T20:44:23.604-07:00Great memory, and could apply to many of us..in sm...Great memory, and could apply to many of us..in small town high schools across America.<br />Thanks for sharing....Joyce Barntsnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6452704934227974757.post-63023077665282200432016-03-13T19:29:45.512-07:002016-03-13T19:29:45.512-07:00Great read Melissa thanks for sharing. Hang tough!...Great read Melissa thanks for sharing. Hang tough!Tim Heddingnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6452704934227974757.post-5258646103189303152016-03-13T12:28:24.452-07:002016-03-13T12:28:24.452-07:00I have this memory of who I like to think I was as...I have this memory of who I like to think I was as a 17 year old and an 18 year old. The Mount Vernon me. I showed up when school was just ramping up for a new year, rebellious me in my old resurrected but not restored old beater of a Cadillac with no muffler. Needless to say I entered the scene loudly and proudly. The long haired anti-establishment, girl crazy, weed smoking, re-invention me, not to say I wasn't that way in Salem, Oregon but in Mount Vernon I was determined not to also be the "low self esteem, attention seeker" of my grade school years as well. Like I could escape him right? He was me! He will always be some part of me. Fortunately as I remember me(hopefully correctly since my memory from my High School years and another beyond were mostly erased in a furnace explosion a year and a half after graduation in Seattle where I had escaped too) the picked on geek of my years leading up to my 7th grade year endowed me with a great deal of empathy for other kids plight even as a "stoner". I vaguely remember defending and befriending kids who were picked on and marginalized by other students but still maintaining a kind of neutrality. I was a terrible student back then because I felt it was my duty too having fun to buck back at the rules and expectations of the administration. I missed more school than I attended often just showing up long enough to hook up with some friends to go on adventures to West Beach or some other cool place to enjoy the high. Despite my reckless behaviour I think I was a caring thoughtful gentle person to those around me. I too returned to the old school and the cruise strip years later looking for who I was back then and the people I called friends in my Junior and Senior years. I have had to face the fact's as they have been presented to me according to someone elses personal experience's as well since going onto FaceBook. I would like to make a heartfelt apology to anyone that I may have hurt through my actions or inactions back then. I used to seek feeling whole and loved and even complete through others, namely my girlfriends. I am reminded/told that though I wasn't a cheater or a beater I was rather insensetive with some people by hopping from one girlfriend to the next without much sensitivity, only maintaining the non cheater status by sometimes as little as a day in between relationships. I have since left that kind of self seeking through others. To the ones that were hurt in my fruitless search for completion which I now understand was within me all the time, not in others, I am truly sorry and hope after all of these years you can with my apology put the harm I inadvertly caused to your heart to rest and be happier for it. I hope that everyone's lives I touched are doing well and wish you the best. <br /><br />Yours,<br />Chris CookeAnonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01900030315817613779noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6452704934227974757.post-84445746933706083152016-03-13T09:29:47.881-07:002016-03-13T09:29:47.881-07:00you could not have said that any better every thin...you could not have said that any better every thing is so true.....Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15060268468787344735noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6452704934227974757.post-45950067051204286502016-03-12T09:43:03.294-08:002016-03-12T09:43:03.294-08:00I'm still here and see these places daily... I...I'm still here and see these places daily... I will look and remember a little differently today! Thank you for the happy tears and the memories you pulled up! Thank you for sharing your fight with cancer. All my love and prayers. Did I happen to get any votes? Probly not, I was most likely skipping Mrs. Rassmussin's class or Jake's, sipping coffee at Denny's! Thank you for the trip down memory lane and 9th street ��!!! ��Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11024496515218746566noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6452704934227974757.post-83052562014706300742016-03-12T08:24:08.723-08:002016-03-12T08:24:08.723-08:00Every word so true. Like Kristi, tears are running...Every word so true. Like Kristi, tears are running down my face.Vickinoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6452704934227974757.post-79493595914293688092016-03-12T06:54:27.656-08:002016-03-12T06:54:27.656-08:00Awww, this is such a good blog. I didn't grow...Awww, this is such a good blog. I didn't grow up there but I wish I had. Sounds like it was a nice place with nice people. I wish there were more of these kinds of stories instead of the political ones that flood my life right now. Thank you for a much needed change of pace.Annie Simpsonnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6452704934227974757.post-36080895178560732592016-03-12T06:20:13.740-08:002016-03-12T06:20:13.740-08:00I hope more people share this or put it one one of...I hope more people share this or put it one one of the local Facebook pages. You've made so many of us cry! Good tears!calimomnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6452704934227974757.post-19966380213358308872016-03-12T00:10:23.069-08:002016-03-12T00:10:23.069-08:00I'm typing through tears... Thank you for the ...I'm typing through tears... Thank you for the memories. I am walking through them now with you... Amidst the insanity of Facebook, I am so happy we can all reconnect... Remember... The good and the bad... The nervous, scared, trying to fit in or find somewhere to belong, youth years...I'm sorry for your cancer and fight.. But so thankful you are willing to share your journey... I'm thankful for your kindness in those high school years... Thankful for you! Sending you prayers and hugs!Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17391510883155988541noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6452704934227974757.post-55497952206196544742016-03-11T19:12:27.206-08:002016-03-11T19:12:27.206-08:00Wonderful.Wonderful.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com