X is for That Time I Xeroxed My Face

Believe, Faith, Happiness 2 Minutes

I was ten years old when my Dad left his firm and launched his solo law practice, where he practices forty years later. The whole family was there checking out his new office, the new space, and the new Xerox machine. My big sister Liz said, “Let’s Xerox our faces.” No matter what she would’ve suggested, I would have followed. But she protected me always!

Liz pressed her face, nose on glass against the scanner and the blinding tubular light traveled left to right. The machine discharged the copy. Hilarity ensued. When my turn came, Liz coached. “Close your eyes, really tight,” she said, and look at how well I followed my sister’s advice. I love a good lesson with specificity and demonstrated examples and words of encouragement.

And this Xerox copy reminds me of my ten-year-old self, fun-loving and sister-adoring, adventurous and creative and happy. More than anything, I want to do right by that little girl. I want her to be proud of and true to herself, confident and unapologetic, strong in body, mind, and spirit. I want her to love wholly and forgive fully. Zero grudges. Not an ounce of poison in her soul. I want her to be honest and courageous. I want her to maintain her boundaries for bullshit and remember she can do hard things. And most of all, I want her to live out her God-given purpose.

What do you want for your ten-year-old self?

A to Z Challenge

As I round out this A-Z blogging challenge, I have some fairly fuzzy ideas for Y and Z and leftover ideas for P and K and C and other ideas on less grateful topics. My laptop hard drive crashed right in the middle of my W post, so that was wack. Thank God for my iPhone! And thank you for reading and pressing that little star and leaving kind comments and checking out other posts and praying for my family! Hand on heart, I’m beyond grateful for this WordPress family and for those of you who follow by e-mail and social media, and I’m completely humbled that you choose to spend your time with me. ❤️❤️❤️ More gratitude posts linked below:

A is for Apple and B is for Boozer and C is for Champagne and Chanel No. 5 and D is for Dad and E is for Epiphany and F is for Faith + Gratitude = Peace + Hope and G is for Great _______ and H is for Hatbox and Honeysuckle and I for an I and J is for Jesus and K is for Kody and L is for the Lovely Lauren and M is for the Marvelous Misti and a Dirty Martini and N is for the Numbers and O is for the Oversized Owl and P—Prayer and My Grandmother’s Pearls and R is for Ripples Colliding and S is for Siblings and T is for the Tomlinsons and U is for Untamed and V is for Violoncello, Voices, and a Vision and W is for Walk on the Wild Side

Published by Crystal Byers

When I was young, my dad would always say, "Crystal, you can choose your attitude." One day I chose to believe him.

Published

43 thoughts on “X is for That Time I Xeroxed My Face”

  3. Thank you for sharing!.. I do what I always do, chase my dreams being led by my heart and open mind, being me… 🙂

    “The only thing that stands between you and your dream is the will to try and the belief that it is actually possible.” – Joel Brown

    Liked by 1 person

      1. You might wish to pick a third; Hope…. 🙂

        “Hope is the thing with feathers that perches in the soul – and sings the tunes without the words – and never stops at all.” Emily Dickinson

        Liked by 1 person

  5. For my ten-year-old self, I would want her to not grow up too fast, to not have her innocence and trust stolen…that’s it. Everything else would have fallen into place.

    Liked by 1 person

  8. This is gorgeous!!! I’m so glad I searched for your name… I wonder how many posts I’m missing.
    One of the things they teach in mindfulness is to be open and curious like s child.
    For that 10 year old, I want to forgive, accept, for the 10 year old E to know she is worth it, not responsible, or guilty, and just gorgeous.

    Love, light and glitter

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    1. I snapped a photo of the copy before we made our last major move four years ago, so I’m not sure I have the original. There was a time when I was more organized, but after a hurricane and so much purging and haphazard storage and rebuilding and moving in again, I’m not sure what I have anymore. I suppose that’s why I try to keep my words these days. Serendipitous that I took a picture of an already 36 year old photo copy.

      Liked by 2 people

  10. Well, Crystal, I can’t “like” this post. I have to LOVE it, but there’s no button for that. The last time my grandchildren were here, the two youngest (except the baby) copied their faces on my printer. Hilarious!!! I’m tempted to try it, too. Just for my 10-year-old self. I had the same expectations as you at ten, but they’re worth reviewing and repeating at 78. Thank you!

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Hi Jo! I think we’re all ten years old, whether 10 x 5, or 10 x 7 + a few. We’ll always be the girl who deserves her best life. I’m tempted to try a new photo copy myself, just for comparisons sakes. Do it, Jo! ❤️

      Liked by 1 person

  11. Same thing as roseintherain…WordPress has hidden the “Like” button for over a week now. Just as well, I suppose, as I like would’ve killed the mouse from clicking so often.

    At a loss as to what makes me happier, your life-affirming story, or the laugh-inducing photo that illustrates it. Thinking about it, have to give the photo the nod. Takes a rare talent to draw an audible guffaw, mid-pandemic, but you accomplished it, Crystal!

    Isn’t youth’s unreserved exuberance great? See a copier. What would my face look like all scrunched up against the screen? Well, let’s see!

    Nowadays, the grown-up mind drowns the idea in objections. I’d look stupid trying it. With my luck, I’d break the copier. This isn’t a toy, you know. It’ll probably give me cancer…

    Away with you, killjoy! Ten-Year-Old Me has a world to explore and a life to enjoy.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Keith, your kind, quick and encouraging word-smithing continues to humble me.

      My current work lies in leaving my self-deprecating modus operandi behind and embracing the “Thank you!”

      Sending Love in the Time of Corona and guffaws, too. Thank you for always responding with words that make my day! ❤️

      Liked by 2 people

  14. Pingback: Y is for Y’all – Faith + Gratitude = Peace + Hope

  16. Crystal, I absolutely love the Xerox of your face, and even more so the fact you’ve kept it a sign of defiant celebration and the beauty of childhood smiles and adventures. I’ve never done anything adventurous with Xerox machines. However, I do remember when my brother put an orange in the microwave and it exploded making a huge mess. My brother was always doing something mischievous. Yesterday, a friend of mine posted a photo of these firecracker thingys called Throwdowns. Not sure if you’ve heard of them but if you were a brother, they were the sort of thing you’d throw behind your sister of the cat and scare the living daylight out of them. The stories which followed continued onto their friends’ encounters with railway explosives. These were the detonators they put on the tracks during track works to warn nof approaching trains. My brother and his mates stole them from the trains and sold them at school and got busted. He went to a very prestigious private boys’ school in Sydney and it made headlines on the front page although no names could be mentioned. My mother was a changed woman. Just went underground for about a year. It was dreadful. Something I can’t talk about in the family and only on someone’s blog who live in Texas. The strange thing is that as time goes by, these terrible events because briliant stories. It’s just awful people had to live through the horror at the time.
    Best wishes,
    Rowena

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    1. We have throwdowns here, too. I think we call them snap’n pops or pop rocks. My husband got thrown out of a high school basketball game for throwing them or being with people throwing them. He was in the crowd and in junior high. I happened to be there, too, but I didn’t never saw anything and wasn’t in trouble. The things boys do.

      Liked by 1 person

      1. Yes, it seems to be across the board too, although there are always exceptions. Those who take things way too far and get in serious trouble and I guess those who must be “sensible”. I haven’t known many of them!

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    1. It’s funny how sometimes someone comes along and reads a post (or two or three) I’ve forgotten about…and so I find myself re-reading and listening to my own inner voice, the one I sometimes ignore. So—actually—thank you!!

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