Another cookie, please!

Childhood dreams for the future should always be encouraged. Even if you do not have the foggiest idea of what they are about and your own desires involve greater things, acknowledge and support your children’s aspirations.

 

 
My second daughter Jill, our feisty middle child, wanted nothing more than to be a “Vegernarian”; it took her father and me a few years in our attempts to decipher that one. The best we managed to come up with was, a Vegan-oriented, Dr. Doolittle and it suited her to perfection, right up to the animal-loving part, anyway.


I am beyond proud of my daughter, of her ability to function as a great mother and wife along with maintaining a role dedicated to animals. Years ago, she came up with the idea to breed Betta Fish and nearly turned her home into a branch of Sea World. Who would have guessed that she would become the “Fertile Myrtle” of Fishdom, tending to tanks of horny Betta’s all swimming around with that “come hither” look in their fishy eyes and who reproduced on an almost daily basis. Fish were everywhere you looked; on cabinets, bookshelves, bedrooms, bathrooms and the damn things even survived the combined fishing expeditions of Jill’s two cats.

Fortunately, her home-based little business soon ended and Jill turned her attention to what motivates her the most… rescuing discarded, unwanted pets and one where she will go to the mats over any issue surrounding animal abuse.


A recent year long position as Shelter Manager of our local humane society was a short-lived triumph for Jill. Newly adoptive pet families adored her, sending her flowers and bestowing constant praise in her direction. She worked exhaustingly long hours, seven days each week, always on immediate call for any emergency.


Unfortunately, the animal zealots working behind the scenes were determined to undermine Jill’s every endeavor in attempting to bring the shelter up to decent standards. She refused to allow a group of malcontented shelter members to compromise her principles and integrity so she resigned, not wanting to play any part in their dishonest agenda.


I celebrate my daughter and will always be inspired by her strive to push her way out of the middle and into the spotlight of life.


But please, no more Fish…….

This week ‘s Dare to Share Link Up concerns a post about your dream job, what you wanted to be when you grew up as a child…what you want to be now. Tell us about your dreams and how you’re going to make them come true. 

Well, this post, written several months ago,  is about my daughter Jill; her dreams and accomplishments and something I felt worth sharing.

The boredom of my 46 mile drive into work allows for some pretty deep thinking.  As I navigated down the mighty Taconic Parkway this morning, that little light went off in my head and I made a bunch of mental notes to get these thoughts out as soon as I got into my office.

One of my “blogging buddies” is on a journey; she shares her experiences; up, down and in-between and I commend her for the eloquence in her writings, her intelligence and…her bravery.   We message back and forth about how we inspire each other; like myself, she grew up with a challenged sense of self-worth, reinforced by family inadequacies that leave one wondering, who am I, how did I get here and why do I stay?

Those questions haunted me for years, chipping away, both at my existence and ability to function as a reasonable, balanced individual.  Then, one day, I was introduced to a book that helped me to make sense of why I lived as an outsider in my own life, and everyone else’s,
Women Who Run With the Wolves, written by Dr. Clarissa Pinkola Estes.

Briefly, the Synopsis….

Within every woman there is a wild creature–an inner force filled with passion and creativity. Unleashing this natural power and reclaiming the feminine soul is the subject of Women Who Run With the Wolves. Drawing from her work as a Jungian psychoanalyst and poet, Estés uses her own stories and folk tales to inspire a new level of self-knowledge among women everywhere.

It is a long read and a deep one; well worth your time, it certainly was of great help to me.

As it relates to my friend, “No.7”, and anyone else out there, one passage from this book pertains to how we too often feel like we don’t belong, even in our own skin.  Based on folklore, Dr. Estes writes about how various Indian tribes believe that we come to this earth as stars, falling from the sky into the home of a family.  All too often, stars land in the wrong place thus explaining that lack of fitting-in with our parents and extended families; always on the edge of their lives and never quite able to exist in their world.

So, all you wild women out there, grab a copy or the audio version of this book…and then go polish off your star!

Does your day ever start with a song on the radio that ends up dancing through your head, repeatedly, all day long?

Mine just did and it has me smiling on a rainy, gloomy, Monday morning to boot; the familiar tune drifting across my kitchen brought back a pleasant memory.
 

                                                  
No Astronaut-engineered, claustrophobic, car seats back then, heck, parents tethered their offspring into their vehicles with just the seat belt. Most children, like my daughter, managed to slip out of the restraint and stood up to look out of the car window.

Looking back, I was impressed at how well she held on around sharp turns.

I know, I know, cars were so much bigger thirty years ago and people were not so hell-bent on driving as if they were in the Indy 500. Road trips were enjoyable, even with children in the car because the necessity of being “connected” to a choking assortment of electronic devices in our automobiles back then did not exist!

No Cell Phones, Navigation, iPods, Mobile Video and game systems, Bluetooth this n’ that or Radar Detectors combined to create hazardous distractions while we were on the highways and bi-ways.  We talked with our kids while driving, reached into the back seat, without losing control, either to feed snacks or administer a slap, when necessary.  Let’s face it, we were not in as much of a mad rush to go everywhere as we are in present times yet managed to all arrive in one piece!

Nope….life, for me, was just a happy song, shared by a mother and her child, on a beautiful summer morning, on their way to a day at the beach.