Page 102 - Life Legacy Project

Embracing Your Identity
“Don’t change so that people will like you. Be yourself so that the right people will love the real you.” Deena is very social who has a thirst for adventure and fun. Deena is smart, kind, funny, but can be as stubborn if she doesn’t get her way of things. I wanted to honor my grandma, Deena because I love her, she has a strong heart filled with magic that helps you through happy and sad times and has inspired me to be myself.
Deena was born February 10, 1948, in Potsdam, New York. Deena got her name when her mom got her name when she was reading a book about a girl named Deena. When Deena was a child she had two siblings, a brother named David, and a sister named Darla. Deena was very adventurous. There was no TV back then so she was always outside. Deena did a variety of things, such as talent shows, skateboarding, board games, and listening to old records. This wasn’t a special memory for Deena but her sister, Darla terribly feared the water. One day, she fell in a big pool of water and almost drowned. Luckily, Deena’s dad wasn’t far away so he helped by pulling Darla out of the water. A few years later when Darla was 17, died in a car accident in which made Deena and her family very devastated. Deena’s dancing instructor was a special role model for her because she taught her ways to keep healthy and to exercise to become a good ballerina when all her family did was sit around all day. Deena then graduated at the Wenatchee High school and wanted either be a ballerina, a librarian because she loves books or an airline Sturdiest, but she couldn’t be one because she got motion sickness and very hard.
When Deena was an adult she was happy with the choices that she made. Her favorite choice was owning a flower shop business and being the owner of it. She enjoyed the experiences of it and making people happy. Deena had two children, Michelle, and Mark. They did was Michelle had a very weird look on her face and said “Ewww, gross.” to her brother, Mark. Deena wanted to know what Michelle meant by that but found out that Mark’s pockets were full of caterpillars. The best thing Deena really enjoyed about being a parent was seeing her kids grow up and learning new things, playing, being crazy, wearing funny hats, and playing with animals. One of Deena’s memories that she will never forget is her wedding day, seeing families together, her relatives. She got married at a Church in Wenatchee but it was really hot. It was in the high 90s but there was air conditioning in the church. Deena and my grandpa had their honeymoon at Lake Chelan. Her favorite family tradition is thanksgiving because it’s not as stressful for her and loved seeing family and friends together. Her family would always make shrimp cocktails and she loved them so much. Her brother didn’t like them so she would always get two.
Currently, Deena lives in Republic enjoying her life. She is always very busy and does a variety of things like a 4H quilt club, camping in the summer, reading, working on her garden when it is nice outside, going to her coffee group, and taking grandpa to Senior lunch. Her strongest desire is knowing that everyone in her family is happy and healthy and wants to learn to be a better painter. Her one wish for the world is peace and for everyone to be humble and kind. She loves sewing and always wonders what projects to do in it, and most important, taking care of my grandpa. It is pretty quiet where my grandma lives. She always hears the sound of the TV, birds singing, dogs barking, chickens invading her yard, and the fire crackling in the fireplace on a cold night. A good piece of advice that someone gave Deena was from her mom. She said, “Don’t gossip and say bad things about other people.” A piece of advice that Deena gave me was “Today’s experiences are tomorrow's memories. Each day something new and challenging will come, but never be afraid to try new things and meet new people.” Something that she understands now that she didn’t when she was younger was that she wished she applied herself more in school, she was very smart but she was more interested in making friends and socializing with them. Because she was so smart she didn’t have to study as hard as other people and was more of an observer of knowledge.
I wanted to honor my grandma, Deena because I love her, she has a strong heart filled with magic that helps you through happy and sad times and has inspired me to be myself. Deena has taught me to embrace my true identity, never be afraid to try new things. Find a good balance in life and most important is to be me. Something that Deena said that stood out to me was “Today’s experiences are tomorrow's memories. Each day something new and challenging will come and but never be afraid to try new things and meet new people.” this stood out to me because to me it is a really good piece of advice for not just me but for other people because the true meaning of life is to embrace your identity and to try new things.
Created By: Lindsay Booth
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