On Saturday I had the pleasure of celebrating the birthday of my sweet niece, Nikki. With all of her crazy 25 year old exuberance, we boated and drank champagne on the calm waters of Lake Huron. Nikki is a nursing student and currently works at Mott Children's Hospital where she aids young cancer patients in the fight of their lives. She has won numerous awards from both her teachers and patients family for her gentle, compassionate care. I am very proud of her and love seeing her use her brains, beauty and charm in such an important way. She is very focused and her future looks as bright at the sky on her special day.As I sipped champagne and cheered her on in her antics, I got to thinking of myself at that age. Wow, what a difference! When I was her age, my life read like a bad country and western song. I had a baby on my hip and was going thru a divorce, getting out of a short, ill-fated marriage. I had no education, no job, no money, and nowhere to live. Oh, and an old Jeep Wrangler. (I loved that thing!) All that was missing was the 'Christmas lights on, my front porch all year long'! Completely clueless and as unmoored as the buoy in the picture. Yep, that was my reality. I made stupid choices that somehow seemed so right, at that time. Going to jobs because I thought they were 'fun' and living on happy hour free munchies were just not going to cut it now. Babies need much more sustenance than cheese curls and pretzels, and they can cause you to grow up real quick.
The story ends well, thanks mostly to my parents who housed and fed us, and babysat Dane while I attended cosmetology school and bar tended to save money. But the real question is why didn't I set my sights a little higher earlier on? I blithely skipped along and just was sure that everything would work out. Education and the college experience is one of the only regrets that I drag around today. Yes, I want to travel more-but there's still time for that.
I guess it's the old 'if I knew then what I know now' thing. Sigh....Who knows? Hell, I still don't know what I want to be when I grow up! Maybe I'll just be Nikki's old auntie, blithely skipping along and cheering her on in all of her crazy adventures. Wishing the very best for you, Dollface-you deserve it all. xoxo
4 comments:
Your niece sounds like a wonderful person. Glad she got some well deserved R & R, and champagne. And you too.
Love the pic and love the blog write up! xoxo
Jodi, a salute to you and your nice Nikki ~ congrats ~! A life's arc keeps on going, and each uniquely. As long as there's still movement, all sounds right on. Experience, education, both or either may "get the job done." Here's to new travels, too ~ cheers, toast ~!
Charles-thanks, Friend. Nicole is truly a little rock star! Cheryl-it's all YOUR fault. Kidding! Erik-You know me so well and I love your cool 'take' on things. Have a great week my darlings. xo
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