Life is a gray area.

One of the most important things that I hope I taught you is that Life is a Gray Area. Its messy and doesn’t fit neatly into anything. There are very few if any issues that fit neatly into the black and white category. Everything is based upon the situation and the people involved. For instance it’s wrong to commit murder and that is undeniable true. However what if someone was hurting a loved one, say kids perhaps and the only way you could stop it was to kill that person. Is that still wrong, to kill someone in order to save someone else? I can tell you that I am against murder, but at the same time I would absolutely kill anyone if they ever hurt either one of you. That is a definite gray area, and that’s where I live.

I didn’t always live in that gray area. I used to think that life was cut and dry. There was right and moral, and then there was the wrong and evil. I lived like that for many years as a child and into adulthood. Then the bubble my parents (you’re grandparents) tried to raise me in suddenly popped on day. I was devastated, and in disbelief. I seriously think that it contributed to my downward spiral. The spiral that left me with such a huge climb back up.

It wasn’t really my parents fault. They did the best that they know how with what they were given. I was just sheltered a little too much, because I don’t feel like I was ready for the real world. Maybe it was my own fault, and I went into the real world too soon. Who knows, but either way I tried/am trying to prevent that from happening to you. I want you to be informed and prepared for whatever life throws at you. Some people, even you own aunts and uncles, said that you were to young and I shouldn’t tell you those things. I always told you the honest truth in an age appropriate way, and always tried to keep the lines of communication open. I wanted you to know that if ever had a question or doubt about anything, that you could come to me and get an honest answer. It may not be an answer that you like, but it will be as honest and truthful as I know it to be.

Do you remember when your Aunt was having a baby? Marie you came to me and asked me how the baby comes out of her body. This wasn’t the first time that you asked me that question. In fact, Paige had asked before too, I am pretty sure that it started when I was pregnant with your brother. At first I told you that I went to the hospital, fell asleep and when I woke up I had the baby. I know that is not entirely the truth, but Marie you were four years old at the time and Paige was two. When you got a little older and I became pregnant with Rose, you asked again. This time you were six, and four. I gave slightly more detail but still not the complete truth. I told the truth about how the baby gets out the mommies belly after your Aunt had your cousin. Even then I didn’t give too much detail, but said that the baby comes out of your private parts. Marie you were seven and kind of grossed out about it, but never asked about it again. I think that I did the right thing and told you as much truth as I could without giving away too much information.

When I was a kid, my mom told me that she and dad wanted a baby real bad so one night they prayed really hard to God for him to give them a baby and he did. That was it, no explanation no nothing; Just a prayer.   That left me with more questions than answers. I eventually got my answers, but not from the safe confines of my mother. I think I learned about that kind of stuff from TV, and other people.

I’m rambling now, but the whole point I was trying to make is that life is complicated and shady. What you have come to believe as fair and just in one situation, may not necessarily be true the next time.

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That’s the kind of love that I wish for you.

That’s how I felt when I first saw him. I thought he was so gorgeous and was so out of my league that I didn’t even consider talking to him. He was tall with dark features, and I could tell that he was a little older. I remember that he was wearing a band t-shirt and made it look sophisticated. At first I tried not to notice him, but that was easier said than done.

His hair was the blackest black that I had ever seen, and it was fixed just perfect. His eyes spoke of intrigue and wisdom. Those lips that sat just above his masculine jaw were something out of a magazine. They weren’t too big or too small, just big enough to kiss, but not too big to make kissing sloppy. (I always hated sloppy kisses.) The sun-kissed color of his skin reminded me of the guys I would see in the Abercrombie and Fitch commercials that I would always see on TV. There was just the right amount of togetherness that he looked kept, without looking feminine. At the same time appearing cool and calm wearing his Lynard Skynard t-shirt and drinking a beer. He seemed to be everything that I was looking for.

I just knew that he was not going to be interested in a girl like me. He was sophisticated and attractive, charming and funny, mature and relaxed. I felt that I was none of those things, and add in the fact that I was divorced and had already had two kids at my young age of 22. Who in their right mind would want to deal with someone in my situation?   Then the completely unimaginable happened. He actually talked to me first! I was a little drunk at the time, and can’t remember what he first said to me, but I remember without a doubt the very first thing that I said to him.

“I am divorced with 2 kids; Now what?”

By this time I was at a point in my life where I had decided what I was and wasn’t willing to accept any more, especially when it came to men. I was finally starting to realize that I was pretty, and men seemed to be attracted to me. Even if they weren’t, I was okay being a single mom of two wonderful little girls. I was finally happy in my life.

To my surprise he said that he was also divorced, but didn’t have any kids. I was still skeptical, and tried to play it cool. At one point I was walking out of the lady’s room at the bar and noticed that he was watching me. I tried to make eye contact and walk using my sexiest walk I could possible manage. While I was trying so hard to concentrate, I never bothered to look for tables or chairs that may have been in my path. Bam! I walked smack into the edge of a table! I tried to play it off as gracefully as I could. I acted like I hadn’t noticed that I walked into a table with such force that the whole table shook, and hoped that he hadn’t noticed either.

A short time later we exchanged phone numbers. The rest as they say, is history!

That’s the kind of love that I wish for you.  I was never truly sure if I believed in love at first sight, but I became a believer that night; a believer in the kind of love that makes you fearless and afraid all at the same time.