I am a twenty-two year old woman with a lot to say. Ha ha! I come from a Greek and Lithuanian background. Sounds funny right, a Greek girl with the last name Peterson? My original last name is Panagiotopoulos, but unfortunately it was changed to Peterson when my great grandfather came over from Greece. I wish it were changed to a name, which reflected some ethnicity. I grew up in a small town named Westchester, it is located about twenty minutes from the actual windy city, Chicago. I was raised in a cute little ranch home with my parents and my older brother George. I would consider myself a very lucky girl. I had a mother who stayed home and raised George and myself until I was seventeen, and a father who worked his tail off so she could do so. My parents never missed a school meeting, awards assembly, science fair, sporting event, or graduation. My mom had some major responsibilities; she had to clean the house, cook the meals, do the laundry, car pool, grocery shop, and still manage to be on call at the "Kool Aid House". Our house was definitely the house that every kid wanted to hang out at, eat dinner at, and sleep over at. I can only recall a handful of times where there weren't any additions to our dinner table! George and I were very open and honest with our parents. We were those children who would hurry home to tell on ourselves! George believed that we were honest children, where I argued that our mom had a magic crystal ball, and if she had found out by anyone other than us the punishment would increase by ten fold! We were very disciplined. If we were grounded we knew not to ask when our punishment would end. I respect that now, however it took about ten years to appreciate heir intentions. Over the years I was able to see the negative correlation between my friends and I. They were never disciplined, and were always getting into trouble. I am extremely grateful for the family I was blessed with.
