How it all began

Chapter 3

My neighborhood was a typical 1970's subdivision with sidewalks, two story houses, two car garages, big backyards and patios with a place to barbeque. During the summer my friends and I played all day and into the night. We played softball, football, soccer, ghost in the graveyard, T.V. tag, truth or dare, and of course rode our bikes. I will never forget the good humor truck when we all ran in our houses to get our money. My favorite was the chocolate éclair bar and the malted milk cup.

I had long curly reddish brown hair and due to being outside all summer, a dark tan. I wanted to be a blonde with straight hair. I asked my mom if I could dye my hair blonde and she said absolutely not. I decided after she turned me down on something as simple as dying my hair I wouldn’t get very far with the dolphin tattoo. I was only twelve when I wanted to dye my hair and get the tattoo. I realized that there were not very many kids dying their hair at twelve or getting tattoos but was the harm. Dolphins are cute and blonde hair was pretty. My mom wanted me to be unique and so I thought she might go for it. As free spirited as my mom was in naming me Tallahassee, she was very conservative when it came to discipline. Now that I am a parent myself I would have said the same to my daughter if she had asked me for a tattoo or dyed hair. I now realize even as a young child I wanted to live near the ocean and that is why I wanted the dolphin tattoo. Once again it took 38 years for me to realize how much I wanted to live near an ocean.

how it all began

Chapter Two

As a child I loved the snowy Minnesota winters. During school I would daydream about  putting on my red snow pants, black coat, gray scarf, blue hat, and whatever gloves I could find along with my big ugly yellow boots that completed the outfit. I didn’t care how I looked. In order to go sledding with my friends that is what I had to wear. When we returned a big mug of hot chocolate with marshmallows was waiting for us. The thought of sledding with my friends made getting through the school day a little easier. My favorite part of the snowy Minnesota winters was the possibility of a snow day. As a child I stayed in my pajamas and hoped and prayed I would hear my school announced on the radio as being closed. I compared it to winning the lottery when I heard the name of my school. Now that I am an adult and prefer the warm weather with no snow I will never forget the feeling of exhilaration when I heard, no school!

I enjoyed winter and growing up in Minnesota however summer was still my favorite season. The obvious reason, there was no school. We lived close to a lake and my friends and I loved fishing with bamboo poles and a hook. We used a worm or hotdog as bait. We mostly caught sunfish and threw them back. That is all we needed to have fun. There were very little organized activities and that is how I liked it. As you may have guessed school was not my favorite activity. It felt confining and more of a necessity then a learning experience. I’ve always felt there was a better way to learn but would have to wait 38 years to find it. I wasn’t lazy, just bored. 

How it all began

Prequel to Saramaya Island and What If Island

I will try and post something everyday so you can read how the stories What If Island and Saramaya Island came to be.

Chapter One

The doctor looked at my parents and said, “its a girl.”
My mother told me how excited she was that I was a girl. They could have found out sooner via an ultrasound but chose to be surprised. The reason they were excited is that my mother and father had a named picked out for a girl but not a boy. At least that is how the story goes.

“Have you picked out a name?” the doctor asked.

“As a matter of fact we have. Our daughter’s name is Tallahassee.”

“Tallahassee?” the doctor repeated not sure he heard correctly.

Yes that is right, Tallahassee Lucille Montgomery my mother said proudly. My father nodded in agreement but not as enthusiastic as my mother. I want my children to have unique names my mother explained as the doctor wasn’t sure what to say next.

“Welcome to the world Tallahassee Lucille Montgomery. You are the first Tallahassee delivered by me and I can't wait to tell my wife. She always trys to guess the names of the babies I deliver.”

My mother now had a big smile on her face and told my father, “I told you so.”

I went home a couple days later and met my sister Charlotte and brother Raleigh. We are all named after cities for no particular reason other than my mother wanted us to be independent thinkers and thought having a unique name would guide us in the right direction. She was right in the sense that a name like Tallahassee does force one to be independent since there are very few of us. I am now 37 and haven’t met or heard of another person named Tallahassee. Maybe if I lived in Hollywood there might be another but not in the small midwestern town of Oakton Minnesota where I grew up or for that matter anywhere in the midwest.  

teachers and or mentors

I want to discuss how a chance meeting could change your life. My question to you is this; Do you or did you have a mentor in your life that guided you in the direction you needed to go? If not there is still time as long as you are open to the possibility. In my case it was the summer of 1995 about 15 years ago when I started my first business called Create A Party Unlimited, a children’s party service. I needed to find a place that created flyers and went looking for a print shop. The first place I went didn’t have what I was looking for. The second place I went was a complete surprise to me. Before I realized what I was doing I was parked in the parking lot of Kinko’s and exiting my car. I didn’t remember pulling in. This is a true story, stay with me. When I walked into Kinko’s I was directed to the desktop publishing area and met the man that would change my life. His name is Mike and before he started working at Kinko’s he worked at the place I initially went earlier that day.  If he were still working at my initial stop I would have never ended up in the parking lot of Kinko’s because it wasn’t the place I needed, but unbeknownst to me, the person. Whatever you refer to as a higher power I believe that day I was being guiding in the direction I needed to go without me ever knowing. I realized overtime how the events of that day changed my life. I call it fate, others may call it a coincidence. I believe there are occasions when we don't or won’t ever know the reasons why certain things happen but the lessons they teach us is what does. My mentor / catalyst Mike is how I refer to him was in my life for about 3 years. We went our separate ways because I learned what I needed to learn and somehow know I will see him again and it will be like the first day we met. Pay attention to the people in your life because you never know what you can learn from them or them from you.

http://www.whatifisland.com