Then and Now

This was/is me.  I was younger then and as I remember it, very content and happy.  I have been doing some reflections of the different phases in my life.  I guess I am a lucky person.  Even though there have been times that I regret, decisions that were wrong, and choices I wish I could redo; I went through each phase much like I did as a child, content and happy.  There were does dark periods in my life when I was sad but at the end of each day I found a place inside of me that got me through and in that, there was contentment.  I think that I am just a happy person.  I don't like being around negativity because it feels foreign to me.

These are my kids minus Joe who became my son later in life.  So much of my life was devoted to raising them and loving them. This phase was such a great phase because being a mom is the best job I ever had.  I had to work very hard while they were growing up so I didn't always have the time to do everything I wanted and we did not have much money, but I loved every minute of raising my kids.  It wasn't always easy but it was always wonderful.  I loved being a danceline mom and a band mom.

I have so many passions in life.  My kids and my husband are two of them.  My photography business and my little farm are two more.  I have always been a tomboy.  When I was little my mother paniced because I asked for a football and a full set of pads for Christmas.  She was worried about that.  I got the football and a Barbi.  Hey I love dolls also and have a nice size doll collection. Here is me intently watching a high school playoff game in New Iberia.  I am a passionate Ruston High School football fan.

Now I am in my latest phase but hopefully not my last.  My kids are grown.  I don't just love my husband, but I am in love with him.

Life isn't always easy.  We face problems each day.  There have been illnesses, legal matters, hardship, loss, etc.  All of these things are the things that make me realize that I am alive.  Yet I have loved moving through the phases of my life and waiting to see what adventure tomorrow may bring.  Life for me has been a complex tapestry of events all woven together into a wonderful experience.  Without the bad times I would never have appreciated the good times.  I have kissed the cheek of my daughter on her wedding day as I handed her to the care of the man she chose for her great adventure. I have watched a jet fly overhead knowing it carried my son to a distant land.  I have transitioned over and over and I would not trade one moment of my life for anything.