"Not quite what I was planning"

      I recently finished reading the book, Signs of Life, by Natalie Taylor. She was twenty-four and pregnant, when she suddenly became a widow. That puts life into perspective doesn't it!  No time to plan, no diagnosis or time to prepare, just gone. Her husband died in an accident on something similar to a skateboard. He was 26 or 27, I can't remember. It is not a happy summer read, but I like reading about things that people have to overcome and learn  how they overcame them. We will all face difficult circumstances and events in this life. The key is what we run to and how we get through these events. Since I am a Christian it struck me that she is not. I don't say that to condemn her, but just as an observation. I am not sure how anyone goes through this life without Christ as their strength. At any rate, that is not the purpose of this blog. I just wanted to highlight a part of the book I really enjoyed. Here is an excerpt:

 "On Friday after school, Deedee picks up Kai ( the author's son) and tells me to take a few hours to myself. I decide to wander through Borders bookstore for a while. I find a book called "Not Quite What I Was Planning."  Smith magazine invited its subscribers to submit their own six-word memoirs. The book was inspired by an Ernest Hemingway Line: "Baby shoes: for sale, never worn."  Hemingway proved that an entire story could be told in six words. The book is amazing. It's funny and sad. I want to meet all of the people behind the quips. "I'm ten and have an attitude." "I still make coffee for two." "Accidentally killed a cat. Fear anything delicate." One of my personal favorites: "Birth, childhood, adolescence, adolescence, adolescence, adolescence."
  Of course I think about my life in six words. What would it be? What six words would summarize the insanity of the last year of my life, let alone the first twenty-four? What first comes to mind is "Single widowed mother trying to recover." But then, I reason, if  I only had six words, would I choose the word widow? Would I allow that word to make up my identity? Just a half-dozen words to describe everything I've been through---would widow make the team? If I wanted to be as descriptive as possible, then certainly widow does explain a lot. I am a widow, at least in title. But after reading through some more six-word memoirs, I decide that if I only had six words, I wouldn't take widow. "The female version of Indiana Jones." That's not mine, that's an entry on page 29. It's brilliant. I want to be friends with that girl. Maybe she's a widow too and she just decided that her adventurous spirit was more important than her marital status."
 
     The excerpt is long, but I love it. I especially love the last one: "The female version of Indiana Jones." I so want to steal that one myself. I'd like to think that I resemble that remark! I also love the part that says "Maybe she's a widow too and she just decided that her adventurous spirit was more important than her marital status."  I am not a widow, but I am single. I have been single for longer than I expected, hence why I identify so much with the title "Not quite what I was planning." I was planning on being like my mom when I grow up. I thought I would marry by at least by 25, then buy a house with my husband, and then be a stay at home mom of 2.5 kids, with a mini van of course!! What I have planned has turned into, buying two houses on my own and traveling with other single friends like me. It has been wonderful in a lot of ways, just not quite what I had planned. I have recently decided that my adventurous spirit is more important than my marital status. I have decided I am not going to wait for someone to do things with. I am going to go do those things and not hold back, as much as depends on my bank account that is!!
       So, what is your six word memoir? I would love to know. I have some of my own like: "No, I am not married,....yet.", and "No, I do not have kids."  "I am not who you think." My six word memoir will surely change over time. So, like I said, what's yours?