My Family Story

My parents met in the 8th grade in a small town in Iowa. Her father was a corn farmer, while his father was the town veterinarian. They started dating their senior year of high school and attended the Senior Prom together. They then both attended Iowa State and continued dating. After they both graduated (and had been dating for 5+ years) they got married. They started out with barely anything, but worked hard to live the life and have the family that they both dreamed of.



Thirty years and three kids later they are still going strong and love to tell stories about their early dates. For their first date they went to a movie, but it ended up being a really scary Halloween-type film that my mom did not like at all. Luckily - she says - she gave him a second chance, and he made sure to read the reviews of the movie before buying the next movie tickets!


The story of my parents is a Grand Narrative that has definitely defined who I am today. From my work ethic, to my expectations, to how I want to live my life, it is easy to see how their story is echoed within all of those.




I always thought that my life would mirror theirs (and I wanted it to). When those things didn't start to happen, I started to worry if there was something wrong with me. But obviously time and rational led me to realize that my life is my own and the timing and choices that they made were right for them, not necessarily me. I always thought that I would be in and out of college in four years ready to get a job, house and family just like they did, but I'm realizing that that is not necessarily the right path for me. I am finding myself wanting to pursue a Master's Degree, potentially even a PhD which will definitely keep me in school a bit longer!

Their work ethic is strongly part of me as well. I have always liked to keep busy, have been earning and saving money as long as I can remember, and work very hard to stay ahead in all of my classes. At the same time, they have kept me grounded and raised me with the small-Iowa-town mindset. I am very family-oriented, and I can't imagine my life with out the close relationships that I have with my extended family. My parents always went out of their way to make sure that we were able to spend time with our grandparents, cousins, second cousins, aunts and uncles, great-aunts and uncle (etc). I also love the simple things in life, and would rather spend an entire day outside on a tractor or with the dogs than indoors in front of a computer or TV screen.

These are all things that I look forward to passing on to my children as well. My parent's unwavering love and devotion to one another despite the difficult times, definitely gives me hope that there is a person for me out there to share my life with - and though divorce rates seem to continuously increase, they are proof to me that marriage can be a wonderful thing.

Though I am getting a Mechanical Engineering degree from the big state school (just like my father) and am studious and conscientious (just like my mom) - my life will certainly have different timing and take a different course - but the greatest thing is that I know my parents will support me no matter what. I can only hope that my life turns out to be a Grand Narrative as well - one that is right for me.