Let’s talk about Courtney
Courtney. My first born and only daughter. She was born Jan of 1990. She has a brother, my second born, Caleb who is 7 years her junior. My family was complete when I married my soulmate, Brian, in 2004. Things weren’t always perfect, but we have had a good life. Lots of love and adventure. My kids have had a great Step-Dad as a role model, and wonderful extended family as support.
As a young child, Courtney showed how empathetic she truly was. Always saving any living creature she could, heart broken when she couldn’t. She befriended those in class who didn’t fit in, who were always left out or had lots of issues going on. She just had the innate ability to sense that., A true Empath. She was a “Rescuer”. That in itself was a double edged sword for her.
She had a brilliant mind and was in the gifted programs at school, scoring exceptionally high on her IQ tests. “Pocahontas” was one of her most favorite Disney movies as a young child. She listened to an audio book of it at age 3 daily. She could “read” that book to you, word for word, song for song, in no time. I can hear her singing “ Colors of the Wind” right now. Oh how I wish I had that recording still of her reading and singing that book. She was such a unique child! Witty, silly, loving, caring, imaginative, creative and talented. She didn’t care what others thought of her. She was happy to just be HER. We loved that she embraced herself. She had so much self confidence then and such a huge imagination!
She participated on the local swimming team. She enjoyed band, playing the clarinet, dance, acting and choir. She played basketball in elementary school and volleyball in Jr High. She was an artist, a writer, a musician. She participated in several productions throughout her school years, and was very proud of it, from Kindergarten to High school. She played soccer when younger and fastpitch softball as she got older. She could throw one hell of a fastpitch! It wasn’t always on target, but man, she had some power behind her. She would occasionally hit a batter, they were always terrified to go up against her. Ha ha! But honestly , she felt terrible when she accidentally hit a batter and that really affected her desire to continue pitching. After a move to a bigger city, she discontinued the softball playing. She loved playing video games, role playing games, board games and comic books. She loved her little brother.
High school brought about a change in Courtney. I really feel the empathy she had is what created the heaviness she soon found enveloping her. She struggled for several years during her later years of high school with this heaviness. It is something she carried with her, at different levels, all through her adult life.
There is so much more to Courtney that I could never cover everything. This human experience she had is what shaped her into the person she was. It led her to the career she chose and loved. It led to her love of hiking/ backpacking. It led her to lead a more of a creative life. This is all part of her story, part of her growth , part of her human-ness . Her soul having a human experience.