By:Brandon Kelly, ENGL 336.003
Amy Barkman is the oldest of nine siblings and took on many responsibilities of the family at a young age. Amy grew up on a farm in an area called Cumberland, Valley, Bedford, PA. Amy currently lives in Everett, Pennsylvania which she describes as "probably one of the smallest towns in the world." Amy was raised by her parents, who both had been married three times. Amy's dad was married to her biological mother, who walked out on her and her younger sister at a very young age, as Amy sighed, "I don't really count her as my mother."Her father then married the woman Amy calls "mom,". They were married for sixteen years and had two more children, which were a son and daughter. Amy's "stepmother" had been married one time previous to marrying her dad. After sixteen years of marriage, her parents divorced and are both now married to other people. Amy's dad's current wife had two kids while her mom's husband has two children of his own, plus they had one together. Amy's mom has been the Bedford/County register/recorder for about sixteen years and has to re-run every four years. Amy's dad is a farmer, and her mother is a politician. In her early childhood, growing up on a farm required a great deal of outdoor work. Amy considers herself an "outside girl" explaining that she still loves "doing outdoor things." Living in Everett now, she enjoys hunting, farming, boating, and anything else that involves the outdoor life.
Amy moved out of her parent's house and into an apartment just one month after graduating high school. Not having a license at the time, Amy walked across town to work everyday until she earned her license. Amy got a job working with a local newspaper and worked in just about every department for over five years. Amy left there to take a job in a local fed mill. Years after graduating high school, Amy decided that she wanted to be a high school English teach and attended Allegheny College of Maryland "ACM". After graduating from ACM, Amy transferred to Frostburg State University and is currently a junior. She commutes everyday, spending more than two hours on the road three days a week. According to Amy, it has been about ten years since she graduated from high school and considers herself a bit older than the crowd, chuckling, "I guess I'm old." About the time Amy graduated high school, at the age of eighteen, she was diagnosed with thyroid cancer. After dealing with it over time, she has learned to cope with the cancer. Throughout the course of her life Amy has had three surgeries pertaining to the cancer. Amy says that her last surgery was in May of this year. She had a number of cancerous lymph nodes removed. Amy is due now for another cancer scan, called a PET CT, but her doctor continuously reschedules her appointments. At the moment Amy does not have an idea of her cancer. This is a very difficult situation for Amy considering she is terrified of needles. Her family has been very supportive along with with a great group of friends who's helped her through the entire situation. Smiling graciously, "My husband, though, had been my knight in shining armor. Not to sound dopey or anything, but he has."
Amy has been married for two years and highly recommends that a couple live together before marriage. She suggests, "Everyone live together before marriage" and speaks from experience. She and her husband lived together before marrying. They own two pugs and a cat. Amy enjoys traveling and would love to travel outside of the United States, declaring, "I want to see Ireland really bad." Amy and her husband are hoping to buy a condo in Ocean City someday. Amy excitedly shouts, "Considering they're so expensive, it'll most likely be waaaay down the road, but we love it so much there." Amy believes that couples should live together until know each other well enough to decide whether or not they're compatible enough for marriage. Softly, she says, "You don't truly know someone until you've lived with them, and there is no set number of months or years, it's just knowing you can put up with each other at their very best and very worst."
Amy has traveled as far as Texas to visit her cousin whose husband is in the Air Force. Amy and her husband are planning to buy a condo someday for future summer trips. Amy would like to travel out west with her husband and the pugs.
No comments:
Post a Comment