My top 100

My friend Joi started this and I think it's a good idea, so I'm going to do it too. The idea is to make a list of your top 100 things that have happened in your life, or things that you have done or enjoy. The things that you hope flash across your eyes when you die. Special moments that are unique to you and have made you what you are today. I'm going to go ahead and publish all 100 right now, because once I started my list, I couldn't stop and found that I could have gone on and on. Evidently, I've had a wonderful life. Most of my most special moments involve my children and family. Some involve friends. I think I listed them pretty close to the order in which they are special to me, but not necessarily- after typing a while, I just started listing things in no particular order. Here they are:

-Richie and Stephen being born
-Rich’s face when I was walking down the aisle
-Rich proposing to me in Cancun on the beach at midnight
-When Rich told me he loved me the first time
-Hearing Richie and Stephen say I love you
-Feeling my kids inside of me moving around and kicking
-Hearing my Grandma say “I love you Melissa” 2 days before she died, even though she could hardly remember anything.
-The doctor telling my mom that the chemo shrank her cancer almost all the way away
-When my kids tell me “secrets” that are important to them and it makes me feel like the most important person in the world
-Finding out I was pregnant either time
-Finding out Richie did not have Down’s syndrome after waiting a long 2 weeks for the test results
-Finding out that we had made it to the safety zone with Stephen’s pregnancy after a long 4 months wait
-The way my kids smell
-Hearing my kids laugh
-New Years Eve every year at my Grandma’s house with my whole family spending the night together and having a big shrimp fest, egg nog and Grandma’s special punch in the punch bowl.
-Everyone kissing each other at midnight on New Years’ Eve
-Starting my first teaching job and realizing that I made the right career choice
-Having a “club” with my cousins called the “Side-bys” and singing to earn money from our parents
-Fourth of July every year with my family at my Grandma’s house- setting off fireworks, and eating home-made ice cream
-Christmas morning when I was a kid and running in to see what Santa had left.
-Watching my own kids excited over Santa and seeing their excited faces
-Watching my nephew be born and thinking it was the most amazing thing in the world
-When Rich told me and my friends Sarah and Corey that he would be proud to have kids with me when he overheard us talking about “one day”.
-Rich singing to me
-Playing “Iron Man” with my Dad when I was little and breaking his thumb one time
-Watching my Dad play “Iron Man” with my kids
-Growing up enough to think that my Mom and Dad were awesome and amazing people
-Rocking on my porch swing with my Grandma drinking coffee and listening to Louis Armstrong
-Doing the jitterbug with my Grandma
-The way my Mom and Grandma looked at me in my wedding dress
-The way my Mom always took care of me when I was sick-even as an adult when she was with me when my tonsils were out
-Dancing with my Dad for the father daughter dance
-Dancing with Rich for our first dance
-Watching Richie and Stephen play
-Watching Richie and Stephen read
-Going to Disney World with the kids and watching their eyes light up and their excitement over everything
-Every time one of the kids draws me a picture, or gives me a flower, or a rock that they have found
-Getting my first convertible - a ’76 MG Midget- bright red- also my first car
-My bachelorette party and all of the wild things that went on that night
-Going to Mexico for the first time and flying over the volcanoes and the city
-My Mom fainting on the way to Taxco and the Green Angels dumping a bucket of water over her head
-Being the first one to Graduate from college in my family
-Winning the Emerson Electric Crystal Apple award and having Julius Hunter hand over the award and the superintendent being drunk at the award ceremony and me and Rich laughing our asses off over it
-My first kiss on the top of the ferris wheel with Don Simmons at the St. Jacob homecoming
-Making my first “adult” paycheck and going out to get my first apartment with it.
-My Mom, Dad and Grandma singing “she’s leaving home” by the Beatles when I moved into the apartment
-Spending the night with my Grandma and laying in bed with her telling stories about the Indian on the RP Lumber sign outside of her window.
-My Grandma giving me a map that had St. Jacob highlighted and she had written “All roads lead home” when I was getting ready to move out of my house
-Staying home with my Mom to make cookies instead of going to school
-Going to Frida Kahlo’s house in Mexico City
-Seeing the Aztec sun stone for the first time
-Climbing the pyramids at Teotihuacan and looking out at the view
-Watching the Arenal volcano explode in Costa Rica
-Repelling through the rainforest in Costa Rica
-Watching a sea turtle come up on the beach to lay her eggs in Costa Rica
-When my Grandma used to walk me up the street from her house to Adams’ store and we’d go to the basement to look at the toys.
-The first day of summer vacation every year
-Meeting Rich at Marx Bros. in Highland and thinking he was funny, then later finding out he would like to date me
-Having my cousin yell out “Hey Billy Zehnder- Melissa has a crush on you!” in our pool during the St. Jacob homecoming
-Buying our first house together.
-Buying our current house together
-Road trip to Minneapolis to see the Frida Kahlo exhibit
-Freezing my butt off driving in the winter because the MG did not have a heater
-Slumber parties with my girlfriends
-Pool parties when I was little
-When the ya yas began to get close and realized that we were friends forever
-Our trip to Hawaii and seeing all of the amazing sites on the road to Hana
-Swimming in mountain streams on our family trip to the Rocky Mountains when I was little
-Winning an award for being drum major at a marching band competition
-Winning the foreign language award at SIUE
-Chartering a bus to go to Hermann MO with 60 college friends and spending the day at the wineries
-All of the wild and crazy days in the foreign language lab area at SIUE with the foreign language gang
-Band trips in High School
-Having game nights with family and friends
-Movie nights with pizza with my kids
-Lila Downs concert with Joel, Sarah, Mendy, Myriam and Irma
- Hearing Luciano Pavarotti sing live in concert
-Six Flags with my kids and the excitement that they feel
-Six Flags with my girlfriends
-When my friend Tom finally told me he had had feelings for me all during college and kissed me
-Day of the Dead parties at Laumeier sculpture park and the salsa tent
-Drive in movies
-Rich hitting a jet in whirlpool tub in the honeymoon suite with his rear end and the jets blowing off of the tub and the tub was filled with bloody water
-Mothers Day every year with my Mom and Grandma and Kentucky Fried Chicken
-Getting my first stereo for my 8th grade graduation and listening to it day and night
--Being excited about my flowers coming up in the spring
-Being allowed to go to the St. Jacob homecoming alone with my friends for the first time and feeling big
-Watching my kids dress up and go out for Halloween
-Having students tell me that they like my class and learn a lot in it as well
-Going to the Butterfly House with my Grandma
-Taking my kids to the zoo
-The feel of spring- leaving the windows open with a slight breeze through the house
-The smell of turkey on Thanksgiving
-Grandma making us each take a turn at the Thanksgiving table to say one thing that we were thankful for
-Staying up and watching the Twilight Zone, Tales from the Crypt and Saturday night videos on Saturday nights at my Grandma’s house
-Bargaining in the markets in Mexico
-Watching my students teach hand slapping games to some Mexican children in Mexico
-Driving along in my convertible listening to some good music on my Ipod
-Finishing the capstone class for my master’s degree and being almost finished