The Long Road Left Behind

I once wrote in a book to my son:

"In the autumn of my days, I will look back on the changes in your colorful life and know it was a good season."

Before I became a mother I was often heard saying "all the forks in my road have been spoons."  Though I made many mistakes over the years, I don't regret a single one.  Had I not chosen the wrong path once in a while, I wouldn't be where I am today.

Sure we often look back and wonder what it would have been like.  What if I hadn't majored in (this) in college?  What if I had moved to Hollywood?  Whatever happened to that photo that will keep me from being President?  What if I had never said yes to that first date?

I'm only in the mid-summer of my life and I reminisce like many do.  Facebook brings back people I hadn't thought about in years and makes me remember a silly girl in my youth with a bit of a wild streak.

But the road home is filled with mistakes and bad choices.  I often don't want to literally return to where I'm from, much less revisit it in my dreams.

My road has led me to a wonderful son that means the world to me.  Brilliant, funny, and handsome and I was blessed to have him because after giving birth, I no longer could.

Friends, family, and a husband of eighteen years, many ups and downs like most, but a good start to the second half of my life.

I sometimes feel like I missed out on something, mid 40's can be scary, but when I think harder, I realize that I'm only halfway through my life.  It's not a half empty glass.  

I made it to the top of the mountain and it's all downhill from here!  My son goes to college in a couple of years and I have some time to make up for and more than willing to give it a good go.

I look forward to taking in every aspect of my surroundings and enjoying the second half of my life to it's fullest without regrets or stopping to look back down that long and winding road back to where I started...