Defining Moments - A Meme

One of my favorite bloggers, Nicole, posted this meme yesterday and I wanted to post it here.

So here are the instructions:

Tell the world what you believe are the 10 Defining Moments of your Generation - and then tell the world what you believe are YOUR personal 10 Defining Moments. Then tell the world why you chose the moments you did.

The 10 Defining Moments of My Generation (In No Particular Order)

1. Atari – Our generation really started the “stay at home and entertain yourself” era. Never before did we think we would play video games in our living rooms until the 2600 swept the spots under the Christmas tree. I still love Pitfall.

2. The Go Go's - They were the first all girl band that really hit it big and they played all their own instruments. It opened up doors for any all girl groups since music was dominated by men for a long time. Especially the rock genre. Sure they weren't "rock" but they were a band and not just a singing group.

3. AIDS - It made safe sex a cool thing to talk about to your kids and at school. TLC and Salt 'n Pepa sang about it. It made most of my friends want to wait until they were married or at least, always be safe when with a partner. It changed our attitudes about sex but also brought out the worst in many intolerant people.

4. September 11th - So many things to say and yet nothing. I will tell you something a friend of mine who grew up in Peru said about it through tears, "Not here. This is not supposed to happen here!"

5. The Democratic Race 08 - A black man and a woman. Thank God. This is a sign that all is not bad in the world. We are maturing as a nation.

6. Cell Phones - Now we are always connected. Some people gave up land lines and only use their cell phones. We have freedom now that we can go anywhere and still are able to get in contact with people and yet, we have less freedom because of it.

7. Internet - The use of phone books, calling for movie times, sending letters, paying bills, meeting people, and reading the newspaper has been changed because of the internet. We are less social. Or are we more social because we can chat and blog and post and write and IM and tweet?

8. iPods - Music changes us and now we are able to take it wherever we want and create playlists for any situation. CD's are becoming a thing of the past and the digital age is here.

9. The Iraq War - Our Vietnam. The sorrow for the loss of life. The respect we have for our troops. The confusion as to why we are there and the frustration as to why we are still there. One thing is for certain, we all wish it was over somehow.

10. Global Warming - We see the effects and we want to make a different. So many people are "going green" and recycling. It seems most of our generation cares about the state of the world and want to do something about it.

And now Mine.

1. The Birth of my little sister - Having two older sisters made me want a brother worse then anything. When I heard my mom had a girl I burst into tears. Not only was I giving up the "Youngest" status but I had to have another girl in the house. Jennifer is one of my best friends and she has been since we were kids. I learned that family was important.

2. My Parents Divorce - I never felt like it was our fault like some kids do. I really don't remember much during that year and the year following. It's weird how I blacked it out but the one thing that came out of it was the connection to my sisters. Mom had to work and that meant the 4 of us had to take care of the day to day stuff around the house. It was not always easy and we didn’t always do it right but I attribute the fact that I am close to all 3 of my siblings because of the divorce. We had to stay together.

3. My Grandma Rosa's death - It was the first death of a family member and my grandma would spoil me rotten. She was absolutely poor but I never knew it. It was the first time I ever heard my father cry. "She was a good woman" he said through tears and I type through them now. I realized then that people cannot live forever.

4. The Best of Earth, Wind, and Fire - As kids we would listed to the record all the time. I would sing the "Maurice White" parts and my oldest sister would sing all the "Phillip Bailey" parts. It is the reason I fell in love with music, play music, write music, and listen to music. I actually got an opportunity to tell a few original members of the band this defining moment about 5 years ago. It was amazing.

5. My Diagnosis - It was the second time I heard my father cry. "Take care of yourself son" he said through tears and I type through. I knew then how serious my disease was.

6. Jasmine - My other half. My better half. She puts up with so much and yet doesn’t give up hope even when I have. She helped me to find faith and she mothers my children like no other. We both had split parents and our marriage is stronger because of it. We are both willing to fight and work to stay together.

7. My Father's Death - Although I saw him every other weekend he was still a big part of my life. I miss him daily. Every good thing that happens from now on will always be a little sad because I can not share it with him.

8. The Birth of My Children - Nothing is more beautiful. Nothing is more meaningful. Nothing is more defining in my life. Being a parent is the best job in existence. My kids are my life.

9. The Bad Blog - Believe it or not this blog has changed me. I no longer feel alone because of this place in the cyber world and all the people I have met help me to feel normal.

10. Quitting Smoking - It has almost been 2 years now and I have proved to myself that I can accomplish anything because of it. There will be a post about this tomorrow.

Whew. That was a lot more then I thought I was going to write. If you decide to do this meme, please let me know because I think it is very thought provoking and interesting.