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Birth
I was born in Lomza, Poland. Lomza is 90 miles from Warsaw. -
First TwoYears:Cognitive
I said my first word, "mamusia". Mamusia is Polish for mommy. -
First TwoYears:Biosocial
I went from an army crawl, straight to walking. I was at a park and started my first steps in the grass. -
First TwoYears:Psychosocial
I only liked being around older kids. If I was with children my own age, I wouldn't play with them. I also thought that everything was mine and wouldn't share with children my own age, but I would with older children. -
Early Childhood:Psychsocial
I was potty trained and able to use the toilet on my own. I would go straight to the bathroom and sit on the toilet. When I was done, I would call for my mom and tell her to watch me say goodbye to my pee pee. -
Early Childhood:Cognitive
I would constantly sing songs in Polish. The songs I selected were the same ones my mother would sing to me. I use to dance around with a spoon as a microphone. -
Early Childhood:Biosocial
I started a kindergarten type program in my city. I was so excited to be around other kids. The class was taught in Polish. -
Middle Childhood:Cognitive
I went through a phase of exaggerating the truth. I would almost call it lying to make myself feel better. We were extremely poor and I would tell my classmates of all these toys and material things I had at home.
I never just lied, it was always followed by someone else telling me about what they had. -
Middle Childhood:Biosocial
I was a tomboy growing up as well as a dare devil. I broke my arm, jumping off the roof of a barn. I didn't cry until my cousin told me I had to go to the hospital before I die. -
Middle Childhood:Psychosocial
I started to garden with my mother. It was first a job and then turned into a hobby. I would plant, pick and water the vegtables. I also took interest ion plants and flowers. I would trim and pick the flowers as well as plant the seeds. -
Adolescence:Biosocial
The summer before 8th grade, I started my period. I was super worried about my peers being able to notice. I thought I had to bring 6 sanitary napkins to school, in order not to leak through my pants. -
Adolescence: Cognitive
When high school started, I was really interested in learning English fluently. I was able to take a course and I began to learn how to read and write basic English. I had finally realized that I could speak English, and I was going to try hard to do so. -
Adolescence: Psychosocial
I really wanted a pair of Nike shoes. They were the new style and all of the cool kids wore them. My parents did not have the money to buy them. I went to the store and put on the shoes and placed my old sneakers in the box. I walked out of the store and the sales lady stopped me. They called my parents and I was no longer allowed in the store. My parents were super embarrassed and disappointed in me. -
Emerging Adulthood: Cognitive
We moved to the US and I was so excited. When we arrived, I was overcome with many different emotions. It was very different from Poland and I had a thick accent. I wanted to fit in, but I was different in many ways. My cloths, my hobbies, my family structure and class level. -
Emerging Adulthood: Biosocial
I wasn't sure if I was college material. I took a colege class, the summer after high school. It was at a community colllege. I also started working at a video store. I knew I wanted to do something, but I didn't want to fail. -
Emerging Adulthood: Psychosocial
I got married and was pregnant 3 months later. I had never lived with anyone besides my parents and I wasn't able to move with him until our wedding night. It was ahuge transition and I was already pregnant. -
Adulthood:Psychosocial
I have met the person I will grow old with. My first marriage ended when my daughter was four. I met my second daughters father, 5 years ago. We had our daughter in 2013 and this has made me feel complete. -
Adulthood:Biosocial
Due to a 15 year gap betwwen my children, my body was not prepared for the change. I was able to bounce back to my original body after my first daughter. This was maily because I was only 20 years old when I had her. After my second daughter, my body looks a lot different. Having a child at 35, is much different. I still have not lost my baby weight, and my daughter is 2.5 -
Adulthood:Cognitive
I have finally went back to college full time and have recently started the application process for nursing school. I now know that I want to be a nurse and also enjoy learning. I have taken several exams and have applied to three differnt programs. -
Late Adulthood:Cognitive
This stage, I know I will accept well. I often feel like I'm still learning life lessons, without room to give advice. This new formed wisdom and creativity, will allow me to give more to others around me. I love to teach others and create things. At this point in my life, I will have the time and the knowledge to do so. -
Late Adulthood: Biosocial
I have always been an active person. Many things that I do now, I will not be able to do in 20 years. In order to cope with my aging and physical changes, I will try to stay active in other ways. I will take classes and join a community center. This will help me enjoy the process instead of resenting it. -
Late Adulthood:Psychosocial
I want to age in place, as do most. The home that we are in now may not be ideel for this to happen. We will eventually need to by a ranch, due to the amount of stairs we have in our home now. I hope to maintain a strong relationship with my children and extend this with my future grandchildren. -
Epilogue
I will hope to die of natural causes. I will have a living will that will that will include my children as the beneficiaries and medical decision makers. I will be accepting of death and choose to be cremated. I don't want my loved ones to spend more time mourning than they have to. Having a gravesite is a constant reminder of the fact that I'm gone.
