2 posts tagged “father”
Where do you want to be in ten years?
Submitted by baby3194.
Inspired by AmyH, I'm not looking forward so much as backward:
- 1998 -- In the early part of this year, I was completing sophomore year of of college as a journalism major in Pennsylvania; in the fall, I got on a plane with my boyfriend of two years and headed for England, where we both had a year of study abroad and I was giving myself a shot at studying art history. My mother was married to her fourth husband, and I hadn't spoken to my father in years.
- 1988 -- My parents by this point had divorced. I lived with my mum in a large house on a few acres of land and a lake. My family raised and bred hunting dogs, and we also had a horse and a turtle. My father lived in a suburb of Chicago and had to learn to drive to come out and pick me up for our every-other-weekend visit.
- 1978 -- In a March chill, I was born on the South Side of Chicago to two people too young to know better and held together by religion and parental authority.
When you look at things this way, it's easier to see how futile looking into the future can be.
I don't know how to describe my religious beliefs at this juncture, but I know in my bones that expression is dead-on. In 1978, did my parents know their union was destined to end? In 1988, could I have ever imagined that in the next decade I would see Germany, Austria, Ireland, England, Wales, and France? How different would my choices have been in 1998 and forward if I had known my mother wouldn't live through the decade?
Of course, I look to the future and have hopes and dreams, but looking backwards reminds me to be adaptable and, most importantly, live in the moment I have now.
Note: The year links above go to images from a recent project I completed, which happens to be a reflection on the various addresses of my life and seemed appropriate.