What I Dreamed and What Came To Be

Time for another Facebook Question. This one was from Lisa-Anna (thank you, by the way!)

"How did getting married at a young age affect your capabilities of becoming the 

woman you dreamed of becoming as a child?"

Wow. That's a question. 

Wow. Now for the answer...answered with more questions. 

This might be a long one. 

As a child, what did I dream of becoming? 

How kind of woman did I think I would be? 

I remember thinking that I wanted to be a wife and mother, first and foremost. I also thought of a variety of careers that I thought I would like to try: 

     -florist

     -marine biologist

     -archeologist

     -interior designer

     -architect

     -author

     -artist

     -librarian

     -restaurant owner

(not necessarily in that particular order)

What kind of woman did I hope I would be?

     -an adventurous one

     -kind and generous

     -creative

     -good sense of humor

     -helpful to others

     -serving God

When I started dating Leo, I was 15 years old. When he proposed, I was 16. Even though he is four years older than me, we were both still really young. At the time, I didn't think we were that young, but now, looking back? Yeah, we were young. 

Two years later, October 1988, we were married. I was 18, just out of high school, and he was 22. I didn't have any immediate plans to head to college. I was a wife and wanted to be a mother.

The years pass; it is now 1993. I have two small children under the age of two. We are living close to Leo's parents and I am figuring out how to live in a trailer creatively. I am an interior designer and architect as we redesign our kitchen. I am building my book collection and we have story hour, many times a day; I am a librarian. 

1995-1996 The Louisville Years

Sometimes cooking for large youth groups for a week at a time, I like the challenge of meal planning and then taking the big green work van to the grocery store to load up. I organize the menu and my workers and make it work; I am a restaurant owner. I learn about scrapbooking from a friend and a new hobby keeps me sane; I am an artist. 

Fast forward a few years to 1997...

Baby #3 is a few months old and we are now living on the farm. I am content with where I am; I have no desire to attend college to have a career. Even if I did, I don't know what I'd go for. Probably something with journalism or English. But who has time? I keep a journal for myself to reflect back on someday; I am an author. I have a large yard as my canvas and gardens start to slowly form; I am a florist of sorts. I dig in the dirt; I am an archeologist. (I know, that's a stretch, but you never know what I might unearth someday.) We have a pond; this however does not make me a marine biologist. I am not even sure why I would have wanted to do this as a child. I think I wanted to talk to dolphins. 

Then along came 1999 and after having Baby #4, I thought I'd like to be a midwife. I started college classes that Fall and in the Spring of 2003, I graduated as an RN, ironically not one of my childhood dreams. Since then, I have worked pretty much full-time as a nurse in either OB, NICU and now also with Personal Home Care.

All that being said, do I think getting married young affected my capability to achieve the dreams I had as a girl? 

In a word, "No." 

I still garden quite a bit and I love making bouquets to adorn my table (florist). I like to read about and study history (kinda like being an archeologist without getting dirty). I frequently rearrange my rooms and like to repaint and redo elements in our home (interior designer/architect). My book collection has grown and I like to collect my favorites or lend them out (librarian). I still scrapbook and on occasion, I like to draw (artist). I continue to plan meals and sometimes cook for my family (restaurant owner). Oh, and I have a blog (author). As for the marine biologist, I still have no idea. 

I think God put me at each place in my life for a reason. I think He brought specific people into my life at just the right time to help me be the person I am meant to be. Life has been an adventure, making me adventurous. I have had to be creative with a sense of humor to sometimes keep my sanity. My various roles have allowed me to be helpful to others as I serve God, hopefully with a kind and generous spirit.

I am more than I dreamed of as a girl. Much more. 

And just think, the chapters haven't all been written yet, my story isn't done and the dreamer in me continues to dream. 

Love,

Dianne