Beginnings

This is all new to me.  I've wanted to start a blog for the longest time, but I was pretty sure I didn't have anything to say that anyone would be terribly interested in hearing.  I guess I'll find out now, won't I? 

So, I suppose I should introduce myself and give some background information.  I was born a long time ago in a land far, far away...well, no not really, at least not the part about it being far away.  I'm forty-eight years old, and I've only moved once in my life, and then only about one mile from the house that I grew up in.  I definitely do not fit the description of the typical, modern American, but then again, neither do most of the people in this area.  I live in New Smithville, Pennsylvania.  It is on the map, but barely.  My parents' families emigrated to the colonies in the 1700's from the French-German Palitinate region of Germany.  Later, also fleeing from religious and political persecution, the French Huguenots emigrated to many of the same areas, and the two groups mixed into one unique group of settlers.  They are Lutheran, and I am reasonably sure that they have been Lutheran since Luther first tacked his list of grievances on the Catholic Church doors.  They speak Pennsylvania Deutsch, commonly known as Pennsylvania Dutch.  They are not Amish, nor are they Mennonite; however, they feel much the same about "Auslanders," or outsiders.  Seeing the mass development and loss of farmland and woodland in the area, I can't say that I feel much different.  I have many, many stories that I can tell about my parents and growing up on the farm, but I'll save that for another time.

Sharing my home, I have one son, whose name is Charles.  He is currently a sophomore in college, majoring in Secondary Education, with an emphasis on History.  He plays football for Kutztown University, which is, quite naturally, located in Kutztown, Pennsylvania.  He loves college and the feeling of independence, which comes with living away from home.  I, however, miss him very much when he is gone.  Any mother who loves her child would understand; however, I admit that I am spoiled, as he does come home every weekend.  Living alone, though, the weeks are long.  I can't get out of the house, due to a back injury that I sustained almost three years ago.  I am on disability, hoping that once I am able to have back surgery, I will be able to get a job again, go to work and resume a "normal" life.  For now though, I am stuck and am making the best of it, some days being better or worse than others.

I have three cats who keep me company, but I promise, I am not "crazy cat lady."  Their names are JenJen, Henrietta and Kitty.  I sometimes feel bad that Kitty has such a generic name, but he was a stray who ran in my front door one day last Winter and stayed.  Since I never was sure if he would take off again, I didn't want to invest too much time in creating the perfect name for him, so I called him Kitty.  He's so used to it now, though, that there isn't much point to changing it, as I don't think he would answer to anything else. 

That's a quick summary of my life, in its current state.  As the mood hits me, I plan on coming back to this blog and laying out the various bits and pieces of my life.  I'm still not really sure why I'm doing this, except that it feels right to do.  Maybe there will be something of some worth to someone in the tales I have to tell, or maybe it is simply for my own benefit.  Either way, I have begun and so, I will continue until all that needs to be said has been said.