10 Questions: Christi from Christimadrid.com
As anyone who has a blog knows, one of the coolest things about the medium is the connections you make with strangers all over the world with whom you can somehow relate. When fellow blogger Christi sent me an email to volunteer for this series, I had yet to discover her blog, Christimadrid.com. But once I discovered her little spot on the internet, I couldn’t get enough. Christi’s blog has a depth you don’t always find in blogs, and I’ve really enjoyed following her well-written, insightful posts about her spiritual journey, her life in Florida and her role as a stepparent, which you can tell from her blog, is a role she values very much. Hope you enjoy meeting this smart and interesting woman. Here’s Christi! Christi Madrid (Mama Christi to my little Munchkinita)
Where did you grow up? Kalkaska, Michigan. A tiny little blip near the tip of the thumb on the ol’ mitten of Michigan. Fantastic people, terrible winters.
Describe an average dinner at your house growing up. Depends on the time of year. My dad umpired softball in the summers and we would often pack a picnic dinner to go watch him and the game. I never learned to like baseball, but I loved those nights of sweatshirts and sandwiches.
As a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up? Oh, let’s see…a writer, always. A cosmetologist (I had a binder full of ripped out make-over magazine articles). A lawyer (they’re allowed to argue at the dinner table). And a world class horse trainer (I built a “corral” in my backyard out of scrap lumber and clothesline).
Where do you live now? Sarasota, Florida. Fantastic people, fetching sunshine. Warm oceans and sugar sand beaches. It’s a dream.
Ever fantasize about living somewhere else? Uuuuuum, YES! I have a bit of wanderlust and dream of places both high in the mountains and high in the skyscrapers. I wrote about this here: http://christimadrid.com/eclectic-sunday/
What do you do for a living now? My work time is two-fold. I write, and I administrate. I write at ChristiMadrid.com and prepare all sorts of documents for family legal services. I also handle the administrative side of my husband’s business.
Tell me your favorite memory. It was a hot and humid Florida night. I was 20 years old. Some friends had gathered in the parking lot after work because a coworker had shown up with his new motorcycle. I was adamantly against motorcycles, but when the boy I fancied hopped on, I found myself hiking up my mini skirt and climbing on behind him. Three months later we eloped.
What have you learned most about yourself by being a step-parent? There are so many things about me that being a stepparent has brought to light; insecurities, ingrained beliefs, a need to control, intense love. But yet I have been struggling to answer this question for 2 days. I type. I delete. I type. I sigh. Then I lament my struggle to my husband. Tonight, he said this: “Maybe you’re having a hard time answering it because you’re getting hung up on the stepparent part.” And with that, it clicked. I don’t know the difference between being a biological parent and a stepparent, if there is one, because I am not a biological parent. I parent one child, my stepdaughter. When she was 6 years old, she told me “I was never in your belly, but I was always in your heart!” — and that altogether sums it up. I am a parent. What I’ve learned most about myself by being a stepparent is that regardless of birth, I am a parent. I love her, I protect her, I feed her, I console her, I read to her, I teach her, and I learn from her. I have learned that I am more than any label could define.
What made you decide to observe Ramadan? A few years back I started feeling an unsettling in my faith. I felt that my Christianity was creating a wall between me and people of other beliefs, which I found puzzling. Admittedly, my knowledge of other religions was meager at best, so I began to learn. As I started asking questions and talking to people, it became clear that my brand of Christianity had earned itself a reputation for being harsh and judgmental. This made me sad, but I saw the truth in it. This realization launched a whole faith crisis from which I am still emerging. The more I learned though, the more I became convinced that people truly are more alike than different. Ramadan, for me, was another way of learning. While I didn’t follow it as strictly as Muslims completing a pillar of Islam would, I felt what they felt and I admired the devotion with which they worshipped in their fast. I also found it strikingly similar to the Christian way of fasting. It affirmed my belief that where there is Love, there is God.
Thanks so much, Christi! Make sure and visit her terrific blog, christimadrid.com
