Life Categories

It always intrigues me as to how people categorize their lives. It seems that most people use one or two ways to define a certain period of time- my aunt does it with her cars. If you ask her about a certain period of time, she will say something like "well, I was driving the white Honda then, so that was May of '95."

I am entirely different. Depending on my mood, or when you ask me, or what your asking me about, I use all different categories and phases. There's the obvious, before and after Spencer, but that's so recent to me, there are still 25 years before that, that need some sort of organization.

After Spencer, there is before and after my MeMa died. She passed away during my first week of law school, completely unexpectedly. It's a day I would love to forget, but every second of it is etched into my brain. We were waiting for her at church on Sunday and she was late; my Mema was never late. My mom was worried and we sat outside of church waiting for her to drive up. My Dad drove over to her house and when she didn't answer the door, he broke in and found her in her bedroom. She had died the night before of a massive heart attack, all alone, except for her dog Gus.

Gus, the dog we inherited.

My Mema was a huge part of my life, she had lived in the house behind us for my entire childhood. When she died, I felt like my world had shifted. She had the personality most like me and I was the only person who she let tell her what to do. I would have to say that her death had the biggest impact on my life, except for Spencer, and I tend to automatically put things in the "before or after" she died.

Next on the list is what perfume I was wearing. Weird, huh? I'm one of those people who wears a scent for a certain period of time and then retires it. I wore CK One for all of the 8th and 9th grade, after that it was Curve, then Glow, l'eau par kenzo, Light Blue, and finally Coco Mademoiselle. Whenever I smell one of these fragrances, I immediately go back to that period of my life. Right off the top of my head, I know that I wore Light Blue during Italy and for my Junior year of College.

After the perfume category, it's on to coats. I tend to do the same thing with coats that I do with perfume, I wear one for a certain period of time and then I retire it to the salvation army. The red faux fur coat, I wore for three years in a row in college- it was like my signature item. These are all the coats I've worn (there are more, I just couldn't find any pictures of them).

There are few other, like before and after my first dog Dusty died. I got her for my 5th birthday and she died the day after I got back from my mission trip to Peru. She was sick when I left and I was so scared that she was going to die while I was gone, but she waited for me! Dusty was the sweetest dog, and I had for 13 years, so I sometimes use my sweet puppy as a defining category.

Sometimes I think about things in terms of when I had faith that "could move mountains," and then when it became smaller than the requisite "mustard seed." When I was a "good girl" and then when I wasn't. I use this mostly when I'm trying to make a decision or answer a life question, like what would "the good Katie" have done? Why don't I want to do that? Was that version of me the real one or is this the real me? Was she wrong or am I right?

But for the most part, I tend to stick with lighter fare of coats and perfume to help sort out and define periods of my life. I don't know why, I didn't plan on making such a method, but it happened.

So how do you sort out and categorize your life? Is there just one way, or do you use many, like me? Are any of them as ridiculous as coats or perfume? Yes, I know they are ridiculous!