Easier to be?

Last night, I went out with a friend of mine.  We have known each other off and on since our kids were in preschool together - roughly 10  years.  In the last two years, we have sought a connection within the other and our time together is filled with laughter, heavy sarcasm, present life forces and ...did i say, laughter?

It takes little effort to 'be' with this woman.  I can not say this statement rung true 10 years ago when i was a young mother, captured within my own navigation and molding of moments around me.  Authenticity strongly revels within me and the compromise of this often shackles my insides; and yet, 10 years ago, I probably compromised quite a bit.

So, I question; what was the issue in these past years that we never found the other?  Were we both on a traveled journey that hadeventually lead us to the other? Certainly.  I question why those journeys were so different.  What were we trying to prove? Find? Discover? Hide?  It's all on the table now but oh so sheltered back then.

How does age gracefully grant you into the world of 'Let's Be Real'

Is it because, as I *do* age in this continuum, i am a stronger individual?  I feign not.  Is it because I am wise enough to be who I am, regardless of perception -- I think i like this answer best.

I am still learning, i am still on that road, but I am more comfortable in my own skin than once was.

So, perhaps 44 isn't so bad after all (laugh).

In ten years I will be 54.  My children will be 24, 22, 20 and 12.  What will I be writing about then?  Who  will I be counting on as friends.  I have few that have been with me for many many years and I can only hope that we are still holding hands together as we travel on.

Thanks for listening.
Katie