Dec 31, 1999 found me flying from D.C. back to Blythe after Levi and Audra's wedding. That night I was only semi-awake as the clock struck midnight. I remember other family members went to TP cars at a party, but I was just too tired.
That January I started my student teaching. The combination of 2 brothers getting married in a week's time and the end of my college days set off quite a bit of anxiety over when (or if) I would get married and have a family of my own. Thus began days and weeks and months and years of being alone and the fear of being alone forever. It was also an era of a lot of happy memories. I actually enjoyed teaching on occasion, and I loved my summer road trips. I worked hard at trying to create a life for myself, but it was always under the shadow of wondering what the future would hold. It felt like forever, but in retrospect was such a short time (2000-2004).
Now suddenly it is 2010 amd here I am, happily married with three kids (the same number as the first brother to marry, by the way). As the New Year began I found myself looking back on 1999 and how I felt about life then. And then I looked forward, to 2020...to a house with 2 Beehives, a Webelos, and who knows what else! What a brief moment of time a decade is and yet what living is contained in it!
5 comments:
Yes! Ten years isn't as long as I used to think it was...which is scary considering I have a 6 year old.
If there was a like button for this post, I would click on it.
I'd rather not think of Lily in 10 years (if she takes after her mother OR father) I really don't want to think of 15 years from now when we have at least 2 teenage girls :)
You hit the nail on the head, Christie. The years fly by and so much happens in such a short time. Hang on to the daily grind with your young family because soon enough they will all be grown up and these times will be just sweet memories. Which reminds me, just today I was putting Ric's b-day card in the mail but needed to edit the card a little. It said what I wanted to say but the picture on the front was not even close to resembling our family, so I looked through some old photographs to find one of a young Ricky with mom & dad to paste over the card one. Looking through those early pictures I found lots with all you cousins and our young kiddos, I think my favorites were of all of you cuddling with Grandpa (amazing how many I found with 3 or 4 of you all in his lap at once). Yes, memories are sweet but I still miss the moments with our young ones and even some of those young married couple times. Life changes, time goes on, but life also revolves and keeps getting better. A full circle. Heavenly Father has such a perfect plan for us, doesn't He?
When we were in CA last week I was having a hard time accepting the fact that it had been more than 5 years since we had lived there. Where the heck did those 5 years go and when did I become this old??
When I got pregnant with Rae you hadn't even met James and by the time she was born you were married to him! :)
I remember wishing when I was young that I could have a look into the future and know if I was going to be married and have a family. If I just knew that it would happen I did not have to worry so much. And yes, I did get married earlier than most, but I seriously did not think that was going to be me. Levi still teases me about never having more than a 2 week realtionship with anyone before he came along. It was just not the right person! And I wished so much for you to find the right person for you too! And then you found your soul mate and I was so happy for you! I bet you would do those years alone all over again now that you know the reward you have now :)! A beautiful, happy, family!
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