I had always heard as a child growing up that life is a journey, I never really quite understood the meaning of that until I got older, much older. To me life was just one day after the next with things happening at random not understanding why some of those things occured, "just my luck" I would say. But as I reflect back on my life and the paths and forks I have taken, and the decisions I have made, I realize that all those things happened for a reason, and any one chance encounter or incident had a meaning, if only a small one to teach me a small lesson, it had a meaning. I have made alot of mistakes and alot of bad decisions in my life but I do believe I learned from each and every one of them, maybe not at the time but eventually came to realize each and every one was a lesson on some sort.

I was sent a saying one time from one of my email friends that goes something like this, "life is not about coming to the end all neatly packaged with no scars or bruises, it's about sliding into homeplate with a glass of wine in one hand and a chocolate bar in the other screaming, "woooohoooo wow what a ride"!. If we don't take chances and don't chance getting hurt and bruised up we will never experience the existence life was meant to be, and never be exposed to the things that truly builds our character, life is made up of all sorts of smooth paths and bumpy roads, in order to be whole we have to experience all of the ups an downs. I am truly blessed to have the people in my life I have had, whether they are still in my life or not, they were put there for a reason. I can sit and reflect on that now and realize friends and family may come and go as the seasons do but there is a reason for their existence in my life. And that reason is to make me a better person. Whether is was good or bad, it shaped me into the person I am today.

As I enter the backside stage of my life I seem to reflect more on what I have done with my life instead of what I'm going to do. I'm not quite sure at what point I began to do this, but somehow I ended up here. And upon reflection the one thing I can say I have done and am most proud of is my children. They have grown into the adults I had hoped and prayed they would be. They too have begun the journey of life taking smooth paths and rocky roads that will shape them into the people they will become, of course as a mother I try to protect them from the very thing I said earlier will shape and mold them into who they will be, but you also know what they say about hind sight, its 20/20. I do wish I could protect them from any hurt or pain they may encounter that I have the knowledge of, but that is my heart speaking, my head knows that to be strong and self supporting they must go through life's up's and down's just as I did and learn from those mistakes, good and bad.

As they begin the adult stage of their lives, building their families and their dreams, I can only hope they will remember to be kind to one another and that any obstacles they may encounter is their choice how they handle them, their lives are made up of one day at a time and when they reach the stage in life I am at now they will be able to reflect with fond memories and happiness as I can.