There was a time I would write the word “life” with an uppercase L … like it is a proper noun. These days, I look at my life or any other life as just one of many lives. It could be a side effect of teaching about population growth in grade 8 Geography! However, each life is unique, and shaped by the circumstances we are thrown into and by the choices we make.
My life has been defined by the circumstance I found myself in as a wife and the choices I made as a mother of my sons. I could dissect my life and lament about the unfortunate circumstance or celebrate the consequences of my choices. As always, I choose the positive of the two options.
Tomorrow, the work on my windows will commence. They were supposed to have been replaced last October. I postponed them to until after my teaching commitment. So, I had about a week’s respite which was spent in catching up with friends and family, and prepping my home for the big switch. It was a lot of fun and a lot of labour respectively.
ASid unexpectedly dropped by on Sunday, July 4th, to help clean up. As soon as he walked in, he thanked me for the 18-19 years of his life. He mentioned how I have to deal with periods (yes, he did!) on a monthly basis, and how the world is probably sexist, and how I get very little recognition for everything I do.
It was quite the dramatic entrance and filled my heart with warmth and fueled me with much needed energy to complete the task at hand.
We worked over 2 days, and felt like we prepped the house for the window replacement project rather adequately. To be fair and honest, I also hired a handyman to add some finishing touches. This morning, our home was inspected and deemed ready for tomorrow’s work.
ASid is back with Mary. I remember writing about how I was devastated when ASid chose to stay with Mary when we had our first lockdown. It was probably a tough choice for ASid to make as well. I never asked him about his feelings. However, I am glad I felt the way I did only momentarily. ASid will be 20 next month, but he has matured immensely in the last few months - way beyond his chronological age.
I’d like to believe that my choices played a bit of a role in the fine young man he has become. I would also like to credit the many lives that have contributed to his life.
