Living life in chapters

We often coin the term “Onto the next chapter!” And we often use that term when it comes to our lives. We live our lives according to chapters like a really good book. You never know what it holds in store for you. With every page it captures our attention whether a happy story, star crossed lovers or a tragic end, the chapters of a book are often a representation of our lives and the way we live them.

I often speak of change, my life has been filled with them. Some extremely bad to the point where I am standing screaming “what am I suppose to do now?” Some are lovely and full of joy and happiness. But with every chapter comes a lesson, mostly about how I see and treat myself.

Two big changes happened to me, I was 25 and a mother to a beautiful boy, my spouse was in Iraq. Never in my wildest dreams did I think I would start this chapter of my life alone. I was so ecstatic, my son came a great time nevertheless. I quickly learned, life is not about me, it is about him. My days were filled with enjoyment, with every coo and cry my son taught me that it was ok to grow up. That I can let go of my past and move forward. The past shaped me to be the person I am today and can look back and be grateful. But I was never expecting the next chapter of my life, which brought sadness. My mother, who was my best friend and was proud to be a grandmother, got sick. She was busy taking care of others and never took care of herself.

She called me one day to tell me that she was fine but that she checked into the hospital, no big deal. No Big deal!! My mother was sick!

So for two months straight I was back and forth to the hospital every day, talking to the doctors asking questions all while taking care of my son. I thought I was going to lose it at any moment and the thought of that scared me, my son needed his mom.

There were days when I never knew if she would make it. And there were days when she fought. The pages of this chapter were climatic, I never knew what was coming up next.

The day came at 4:30 AM. I got the call no one ever wanted to hear. She had passed away, this wasn’t suppose to happen! The ultimate change happened, I lost someone. This was the part of the book that I dreaded, the tragedy. I felt weird, my mom was gone. What was my son to do without a grandmother? Who would spoil him? Let him get away with the things I would never allow him to do?

I was not prepared for this, there was no transition phase, nothing. And on top of that, he was coming home a month later. The next chapter was about to begin before the this one ended.

What is the point of me telling my story? Well for one, my life, our lives are our stories, told in chapters. With each chapter comes a change with change, a new experience, lesson, what ever it may be. But all of that is what makes us…Us! And unique in our own way.
I tell my story so that I may share my lessons and hopefully others will share too.

Life is an open book with lots of chapters, give it a title and share it with the world.