| I was born October 4, 1978 in Fayetteville Arkansas. My mother was at the time a stay at home mom, although her various talents included professional Geneologist and artist. My father was a glazer. No, thats not someone who works in a doughnut shop, its someone who installs windows, mirrors, shower dorrs, screens, that kind of stuff. I am 1/4 portugese, 1/32 Cherokee Indian and the rest is a mixture of Scotch-Irish, Welch and German. Basicly, white girl. I had a pretty great childhood up until I was about 8 when we left home and moved to Utah. Our family had a hard time during the recession of the 80's and it wasn't long before we moved to California to live near my mother's family. I really loved living in California. During the summertime we frequently camped in the mountains to escape the heat of the desert. We tried to make at least one trip to the ocean every couple of months. I was pretty upset when we moved, but after being away for awhile, I decided I really wouldn't want to go back. When we first moved back to Arkansas, we actually lived in a camp ground. It was great! We were homeless but we weren't. We lived on a lake, slept on the floor and had BBQ and smores every day. After about two weeks someone decided we shouldnt live in tents and adopted us for a few weeks. My dad already had a job so as soon as he got a few checks we got a duplex to rent and the fun was over. Shortly after my family moved back to Arkansas, my grandfather died of lung cancer and our extended family which had always been very close, kinda drifted for awhile. Despite our problems, our family has always been a big "family" family... sounds strange, I know but I was raised to beleive that the most important thing in life was family ties. I graduated highschool from Springdale Highschool, the sister city of Fayetteville in 1996. I was always a pretty good student, but by the time graduation rolled around I was just so burned out I barely made it to the ceremony. I was sick and I remember in the middle of some big head cheese's speech during a breif silnce "HA-CHOO!!" That's right, I sneezed, my body's last act of rebellion before I graduated. Everyone roared with laughter, I about died. After highchool I worked a variety of dead end jobs, moved out of the house into an old victorian brownstone called "The Olivia" and went broke FAST. By that time we had moved to Joplin, MO again due to the economy and my dads search for yet another job. In debt, rent past due, and overdrawn on my checking account, I found a job with a "marketing" company. Basicly I was to travel the country and sell magazines door-to-door. I can't begin to sum up two years of travel on one page, but I will do my best. I LIVED. I breathed for the first time in 18 years. I tasted everything I possibly could. I saw so many things, met so many people and DID so many things I never thought possible. I worked my ass off and was consistantly one of the top sales agents. I was told in my interview, girls don't do as well as guys. I refused to accept that and earned the nickname "butch" from some of the guys on the mag crew. I was always challenging myself to break my records and break those of the guys. I had bad days and bad weeks, but over all I was sucessful. I had earned something and it felt great. After a year, something started to happen. We stopped hiring. We were making our sales, but we weren't growing. We lost a few long time agents, and we didn't have the new influx to replace them. The last year on the road was bitter sweet. We had some great times. Lots of laughs. But constant pressure to recruit, and so much rejection from the kids we were interviewing. After two years we fell apart. I went back home without calling my parents first. One of the last things that was said was "If you do this, don't think you can come back so easy". I really didn't know what to expect. Of course my parents welcomed me home. They were so glad to see me and two years had put alot of distance between myself and the problems we had. I got a few more dead end jobs, went back to school and sometime around the beginning of 1999 I met Ken. I knew as soon as we first talked together that I was going to marry him. sounds silly, I don't believe in fate or destiny or even that we are "meant for eachother" but I knew we would fit somehow. On father's day 1999 my dad died of a massive heart attack. He was about to turn 50. He had had heart problems and diabetes from early in his life. The final attack that killed him was so sudden he was gone right away. When my dad died I felt like I was in a dream. I kept hoping I would wake up. I kept imagining myself turning over and hearing my alarm going off. I couldn't belive my dad was gone. I still needed him. We all did. I went home from the hospital and my family just kind of sat around. It was about 2am and there was only one person I could think of who I wanted to talk to. I called Ken (he was up for work anyway). He knew what it was like to lose a parent and was such a huge help to me. On August 14th 1999 we got married. We didn't even plan it this way, but that was my dad's birthday. Of course it was such a special day. I was so happy, scared, nervous and excited all at the same time. I moved to Virginia Beach, where Ken had already been living. It took me a long time to get used to Virginia. I hated it. I missed my family, but I love my husband so of course I would live anywhere with him. These days I like it. We have a nice little life. I have a job I don't consider dead end and Ken is in school. I think some day the house and kidthing would be neat, but for now I'm enjoying just us. We have a group of friends we get together with every weekend and we also have alot online. We play EQ and D&D. I have kindof adopted his hobbies. I love hiking and camping, anything outdoors; although I havn't been in forever. I also sew, though I havn't made anything lately. I went through a phase where I was making midevil stuff. Made a few holloween costumes. I can't really sew from a pattern as well as when I just piece it all together myelf. I guess thats just more non-comformity. |
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| Maggie Ruch |