I confessed in a
blog recently to an occasional longing to be young, even forty, again. A friend
wrote that she well remembered when her mother said to that to her. It was, she
said, at that moment she decided to wring the most she could out of every day
of life. Got me to thinking about how I’ve lived my life.
Being given more
to timid than adventuresome, I have never skiied, ridden a roller coaster, or
jumped off a high diving board. I’ve never been to England, Europe or Asia,
though the latter isn’t high on my bucket list. I’ve never been on an ocean
cruise liner, despite my kids’ urgings. But as I kept thinking of my list, I
realized that maybe listing what I haven’t done isn’t the way to go about it.
So I started
thinking about the things I have done. I’ve always defined my roles in life as,
in this order, mother, author and publisher. So, I’ve raised four wonderful children
and watched them establish good families and careers; I’ve written books, won
some nice awards, and published other people’s books. I have loved and been
loved by a couple of good men and have made and loved lots of friends; owned
and loved a lot of memorable dogs and one unforgettable cat; I’ve had a
lifelong love affair with good food, eating it and cooking it; I’ve been to more
of the states in the union than I’ve missed, particularly in the West; I’ve
been to Scotland, the Caribbean, and, once briefly, to Mexico; I’ve flown in
planes and ridden on trains, and I’ve read a lot of good books.
In my own way, I
think I’ve wrung a lot of living out of life, and, you know what? That roller
coaster isn’t essential to a full life.
Now I can’t wait
to see what adventures are next. I’m sure they’re out there. But no, kids, not
an ocean cruise. Now that Great Lakes cruise and that weekend in Chicago….
different stories.
2 comments:
Mmm, last time I checked Scotland is in Europe.
In my mind, Europe is across the channel from England and the British Isles, which are separate. You know, the English Empire and all that.
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