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childhood, Diana Schwenk, dreams, family, growing up, Hump Day Chronicles, job, kids, memories, Mom, parents, passion, Purpose, Stuff my parents used to say and do
Mom dreamt of being a nurse
THE VERY FIRST DREAM I can remember having for my life was to be a rancher. I loved and wanted to be around horses. I imagined a picturesque piece of land with a quaint house, beautiful trees, a river running out back and pastures filled with horses as far as the eye could see.
Other dreams I entertained included: being a veterinarian, psychiatrist, and the first female Prime Minister in Canada.
Needless to say, I did not become any of those things.
We can usually recall our own childhood dreams, but how many of us know what our parents dreamt of being?
It’s funny how most of us can’t even imagine our parents before our birth. It’s as if they never were children, didn’t exist before us at all.
Recently, Mom shared her childhood dream with me.
My mom grew up in Berlin during WWII. Some of her best memories include having to be hospitalized because she’d lost a good deal of her hearing due to ear infections. It was a time before Penicillin and so her ear infections resulted in damaged ear drums.
It was also a time of not enough food, or clothing, or warmth in the winter. And so staying in a hospital – even with a painful ear infection and in spite of significant hearing loss – was amazing and came with one’s own bed, three meals per day and nurses caring for you around the clock.
And so my mom dreamt of being a nurse. Someone who could care for children and make them feel as good as the nurses of her childhood made her feel.
~ HUMP DAY CHRONICLES ~
What was your childhood dream? Did you achieve it? Do you know what your parents’ dreams were?
talktodiana 
Diana I love your mum’s dream. Mine was not that ambitious I wanted to own a sweet shop. Due to being in a large family where a bag of sweets went real quick. I imagined being able to eat as many as I wanted. Funny how little minds think.
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I think that’s a sweet dream Kath! I have a friend, whose son wanted to be a baseball LOL. ❤
Diana xo
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Diana, judging by the compassionate daughter your mother raised, I’d say she would have made a great nurse. And you know, it isn’t too late to go for PM of Canada. Women make coffee rather than war, so it only stands to reason that Canada should have a lady Prime Minister next go around. I’ll vote for you.
I wanted to be a teacher, writer, librarian, decorator and a nurse. I’ve enjoyed doing all these things unofficially as a stay-at-home mom over the years. Now if I can just figure out a way to get paid for this career choice. 😉 Hugs are great–paychecks are overrated.
Blessings ~ Wendy
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Excellent point Wendy – being a mom necessitates being/doing a lot of things! How many children do you have? ❤
Diana xo
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I have two sons and a daughter (icing on the cake). When all 3 were 5 and under I could have used another set of arms. Thankfully my husband’s an engaged parent, so we have lots of good memories of those days. 🙂
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ahh so glad that was your experience. 🙂
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My Mom told me many stories about growing up during the Great Depression. She wanted to go to college. Poor health and little money derailed that dream. She never stopped learning though, was an avid reader and took some night classes at a local high school. I wish I’d asked my Dad what his dreams were.
I was a daydreamer and envisioned many things: becoming a writer, owning a huge piece of property that orphans could grow up on, having a horse and a little cabin by a lake. I did write for a living and have had many wonderful experiences. But I wish some of the other ideas were more than just a dream. 😉
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A huge piece of land that orphans could grow up on… I love your heart Judy! ❤
Diana xo
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The place I had my eye on was Green Lakes State Park not far from Syracuse, New York. That would have been an amazing, fun place to grow up in. 😉
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Wow, you even picked the land@ 🙂
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Yes. 😉 Mom told me that I referred to this place as the Isle of Good. 😉
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That’s wonderful – I love that. ❤
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I guess that even at an early age I was an idealist. 😉
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I sometimes wonder if it is in our youth that we are the most idealistic. Idealism is hard to hang on to once you grow up. Count yourself fortunate that you have Judy. 🙂
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Or, I’m just a dreamer … and wish I’d followed thru. 😉
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If I had to follow through on every dream I ever had there would not be enough time in a hundred years haha!
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Truth. 😉
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Childhood dream was to be an artist or a writer to change the world, to right the wrongs, injustices… I got really fired up hearing Martin Luther King’s speech on tv when I was a kid..
My mother…don’t know. I don’t even know the Chinese word for “dream”. She probably thinks a lot about my father who passed away last year.
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Luther was a firing up kinda guy!
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The silver lining of my divorce and living alone is that my mother and I became closer and she opened up more to me than she ever had. In her day women did not dream of having a career as it was expected that they stay home to care for the house, the husband and the children. Even when my father died unexpectedly, she found a ‘job’ but not a ‘career’. It was only when I was voicing to her of my own dream to now pursue my ‘lost’ careers that she said to me she had dreamed of getting a degree in accountancy and becoming a professional accountant. She never regretted her life though and her substitute ‘career’ post-retirement of becoming a historian and writing history books.
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Wow. Thanks for sharing hers and your story here Elizabeth. ❤
Diana xo
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Boy did that bring up some memories! I always wanted to be writer, a journalist chasing the next big story – if I had succeeded I would hope I would have done a much better job than most journalists these days, but also a stewardess because I love to travel (journalist reasoning too), be in the Army, and join the peace corp or become a missionary and ok, here goes a priest!! yes a priest until I found out girls could only be nuns – lol Marriage was low on the list – go figure. 😉 Did your mother become a nurse? How about you – what did you do that was better than your dreams?
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(smiling) Stewardess? Priest? Flying Nun?? 😉
No, my mom did not become a nurse. Not sure I did anything better than my dreams, just did different stuff Patty. But I did get to ride horses, right or wrong, I do analyze the actions of people, and I vote in Canadian elections haha. I ended up in the non-profit sector, fell into it somehow and I love building community. I ain’t got no complaints. ❤
Diana xo
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Neither do I and I always liked the Flying Nun – I never thought of stewardess and priest together to be just that!! ha ha I work for the church so I guess that is just as good and now we going to do some mission work in regrowing a local church. It is going to be exciting – it already is.
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that’s awesome Patty – enjoy! ❤
Diana xo
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I dreamt of being a writer. Living in a log cabin. And owning a bar. I don’t know what my parent’s dreams were. I am going to ask my mom! ❤
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Let me know what she says Colleen! ❤
Diana xo
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I will Diana ! ❤
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I do not remember wanting to do anything as a child, don’t remember ever thinking I want to do this or that when I grow up, from around the age of 14 I started to think the only thing I wanted to do with my life was get married and have a family and that is what I did I got married and raised my daughters and spend time helping with my grandchildren
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And you’re a very good mom Jo-Anne! ❤
Diana xo
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I love your dream Diana! I didn’t have a childhood dream to be anything other than to be loved and to be happy. I knew I definitely DID NOT want to be a teacher, because that’s what everyone told me I should be!!
So how did it go? … I’m loved and I’m happy. And I am a teacher.
Turned out it was my calling after all 😉
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Hahaha Val! Life is funny that way. I’m so glad it went well for you my friend. ❤
Diana xo
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Love this post Diana and I can absolutely see you as the first female Prime Minister in Canada!! From 3 years of age I wanted to be a nurse and that was my first career. I have changed jobs a few times over the years but now working as a Counselor, I feel like I am still doing nursing in a way. We are so lucky our children can really be whoever they want. Maybe there are too many choices now!!
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I can’t believe how common ‘nurse’ has been for little girls Karen. I think you’re the first one to have achieved their childhood dream and commented on it here. I can see how counselors ‘do nursing.’ One profession looks after the body and the other looks after the mind and heart. ❤
Diana xo
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When I was young, my dad rode the bus to work every day. Occasionally I’d ride the bus with him, or — believe it or not — take the bus solo to my orthodontist downtown, about a 20-minute ride. I always thought bus drivers were cool and had a great job. But what clinched it for me was the very wide, round steering wheel. For some reason I thought that was awesome, and so I wanted to be a bus driver.
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I love it Jim – what a great memory and childhood dream! ❤
Diana xo
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That’s kind of the funny thing… I’ve never known what I wanted to be when I grew up. I just sort of took it as it came. (Well, no, actually, I guess I did have a dream… of being a husband and father, but that didn’t work out so well.)
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Aww I had similar dreams, but I do have a daughter Smitty. And she’s a real gem. ❤
Diana xo
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From all you’ve written, it sure sounds like she is.
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Diana, I dreamed of owning horses too! I don’t know what my mother dreamed of, but I know she loved her life “as is”. Dad would have loved to travel a lot more than he did. Nice post!
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I just knew we were part of the same herd Jennifer! ❤
Diana xo
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A golden palomino was my fave. 🙂
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I liked those too!
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My dad wanted to go to culinary school or be a sports broadcaster. Once dating my mom, though, he decided to become an accountant to support his dream of a family. My mom wanted to be a meriologost, but feels lucky to have been a stay-at-home-mom…a privilege not known by her own mother.
I feel lucky enough to have parents that, in part, sacrificed their dreams so I could have a dream. I’ll never be a professional soccer player haha, but I’ve always wanted to help others and be passionate about my job. Now I’m becoming a school counselor and would love to write/do research on school policy during the summers. Great post!
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(smiling) You are lucky! How wonderful. ❤
Diana xo
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I believe it was an astronaut-ballerina-chef…lol
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and interior designer haha! Love you kiddo. ❤
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What a lovely post Diana. I love that you shared your childhood dreams as well as your mother’s.
I wanted to be a psychologist, or a dancer/actor. Seeing as I thought I had no artistic talent, I did not dare to dream of being an artist, though I loved it. And I always dreamt of writing — I always wrote — so it’s good to be a writer! 🙂
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and you’re a pretty good artist too Louise. I’m betting you can cut a mighty fine rug as well. ❤
Diana xo
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I knew of my mother’s dream…to be a nurse. She spoke of it often. My dad was interested in so many things…mostly surviving a challenging childhood. As for me, I had a chalkboard before I could write. There was teaching in my future ! ☺ Sweet post, Diana.
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Love that you shared that here Van! ❤
Diana xo
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What a great post! So lovely that you asked your mother. I’ll ask mine today.
I think I wanted to be a writer. But I didn’t realize it was something I could do really. I wish I had studied creative writing. Anyway, I have worked as a journalist and have self-published a couple books, and am now saying I’m a writer…. but it took a while.
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So glad you achieved your childhood dream Lisa! Now I am curious. I wonder what Barbara hoped to be… ❤
Diana xo
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Thank you for this dream of a post, Diana. ❤
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My pleasure Ann. Do you remember your childhood dream? ❤
Diana xo
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My childhood dream was to survive into adulthood and to connect with others, Diana. ❤
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It sounds like you achieved it then Ann – yay for the rest of us! 🙂
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Yay for all of us together, Diana! xxoo
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