Purpose

I remember my parents asking me when I was small if I wanted to be a teacher or a nurse. I didn't want to be either. I told them that perhaps I would like to be a doctor and they looked at me like I had a horn growing out of my head. Finally I said "I want to be a wife and mom", not by default but because this is truly all I wanted. They agreed this was a good goal to have but that I would need a back up plan, "in case". I naively told them I had no plans to ever be divorced so did not require a back up plan. They cautioned me that life does not always go as planned.

Those words have perhaps been the most impressive understatement I've ever encountered.

I've given a lot of thought to this recently. All I ever really wanted in this life was to have a family of my own and I've always believed that if you work hard enough, you can make anything happen. With love relationships, that theory didn't pan out and it kind of broke my heart..... but in the midst of my pondering, it occurred to me that with motherhood, the love and effort absolutely equalled the 'result'. When I saw the meme at the top of this page, I smiled. I love my career and have worked really hard for it and I believe that I make a difference in the lives of the families I work with, but it's not my reason for being. 

Raising my kids and being a piece in the lives of my step kids, faux kids, nieces and nephews - that is my reason for being. My siblings and friends are the cherry on that awesome sundae. 

I'm not sure I'm meant to be part of a pair. (Bridget disagrees with this statement strongly and insisted that I add this sentence. She's bossy. No idea where she gets that from) I think my purpose in this life has been loving and schmooshing and yelling at all the nubbins I've raised or have impacted in some way. As far as legacies go, for me it doesn't get much better than that. 

NUBBINS EVERYWHERE!!!!!