By the end of this year I had finally turned 17. I had a whole year of dating under my belt and spend the whole summer brushing up on my school work. In the great state of Utah the law allows a 17 year old to take the G.E.D. test. And I passed with flying colors. I was so glad to be free of high school. Now I could study whatever I really wanted.
Earlier in the year I had come across something interesting. My mom had brought someone to our house that practiced iridology. The woman looked in my eyes like they were a map of my entire body. She saw problems in my stomach, my ears, my brain. Everything she identified co-ordinated with things I had been feeling but didn't know how to work on. She suggested some herbs and changes to diet that made sense and seemed doable. Then she said she saw heartache. I was shocked! "What?" I said. "How do you heal heart ache- Oh WAIT, no, I am NOT about to go to a SHRINK!" I thought for sure that's what she was going to suggest...
Her suggestion was that I try out this new form of healing called 'processing.' I was still skeptical but after one session, I was hooked. It's actually very similar to regular psycology only they incorperate other things to help identify and resolve issues faster. And for me the sessions included my relationship with my savior and allowed him to play a very significant part in my healing. It was awesome, and I wanted to learn to became a facilitator. I found out where the school was, what tuition would cost and was determine to save up to attend the class in my 18th year. God's plan was slightly different...
After completing my GED I got a job as a nanny with a family in New Jersey. I packed up and left home.
New Jersey was beautiful, the new family I worked for was amazing! They had two little girls, ages 3 years and 4 years, and a little 1 year old boy, the parents were both brain surgeons. The job seemed really cushy at first, things were going well. The girls went to preschool part of the day, napped another part, and the kids were generally very well behaved. The parents would refund for me to take the kids on outings and had a car for me to drive them around in. The dad's parents owned a fishing business and had a huge family dinner every Sunday with all the delicacies of their business on the table.
The problem came in that being surgeons, the parents often left early in the morning and would not arrive home till 7 or 8 in the evening. This left very little time for me to go spend any time with people my age and I am a VERY social creature but could not afford to stay out late or I would risk sleeping in too late...
I did however get Sundays off and at church I met a guy who was very cute and I invited him to come over during the day sometime.
I really should have thought it through better. I had no problem with letting the parents meet him, asking their permission to have him around, there was nothing questionable to me about having him around. My intentions were honest, I just wanted someone to talk to and hang out with... I just didn't see them and couldn't get a hold of them on the phone before he showed up at the house... So I let him in, having every intention of introducing him when the parents arrived.
In the end in turned out very badly. The dad came home early, my friend had to leave early. They barely had a chance to pass each other. The dad became very upset with me and asked what was going on. I tried to explain but he had no reason to trust me. I had only been working for them two whole weeks. He threatened to shoot the guy if he came around anymore, I voiced my frustration that there was no time for me to go out. The mom got home and said that maybe I was too young to be able to handle this job. She wanted me to do more crafts and cooking with the girls. I felt the expectations were unreasonable. What I was getting paid wasn't worth the hours and effort they wanted. They decided to send me home.
I was absolutely heartbroken. I had not meant for any of it to happen and now my chance at saving up for school seemed lost for good. I returned to Utah, depressed and unsure of myself.
