Day 2

2. Describe 3 legitimate fears you have and explain how they became fears.

1. Bees: When I was in kindergarten, my mom thought it'd be okay if I watched the Sci-fi movie Killer Bees. I was traumatized (if you've never seen the movie, imagine Hitchcock's Birds, but with African Killer Bees and more screaming). I saw these terrifying stingers of death go into people's mouths and ears and up their noses and come out through their stomachs as they blew-up in a horrific explosion of bees and flesh (I told you I was traumatized). Later on in the week, my mom got a call from my kindergarten teacher, "Hello, Mrs. Palmer. We seem to be having some problems with Danica. During recess, she won't go outside. She only repeats 'bees' over and over again as an explanation to our inquiries." I remember my aunt coming to visit us over the summer (we lived in Nebraska that year), and she and Audrey were eating popsicles. I wanted one, but in order to eat a popsicle, I had to go outside. There was no way I was trading my life for a popsicle. To this day, if something buzzes around me, I experience an involuntary freak-out.
2.  Waking up and finding my cat died: Losing Bigotes  hit me really hard. It was the first time I had ever lost someone really close to me. Ever since bringing Gwen home, I fear waking up and finding her dead in the house somewhere from something I could have prevented, like choking on some piece of something I should have picked up. I pick her up and hold her (much to her dismay sometimes) and just relish the life in her. I know she will die before I will (I'm not insane; I know she's a cat), but I just pray she doesn't die before she's had a long and happy life.
3. Jake dying: I think this one is pretty universal. Anytime we allow someone into our lives that mean the whole world to us, we set ourselves up for the nightmares: "He said he was going to be home two hours ago....that's it! He's dead on the side of the road somewhere. I'm only 20, and I'm a widow." The worst part is that I have a very vivid and over-active imagination. Ever since I let this wonderful man into my life, one of my biggest fears has been losing him. I made him promise that he wouldn't die until after I did (I don't know if you can keep those kinds of promises, but I'm going with "yes, you can"!).