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Me Back Then - Livin' the Good Life


Apr. 11th, 2014 10:39 pm - Me Back Then I came across this photo of me at about age 23, I'm guessing. There is another photo in this series where I'm holding a baby on my lap, but the baby is facing away from the camera, so I can't tell if it's Nathen or Ely. From the baby's build, it looks most like Nathen, so that would put me at age 23. If it's Ely, I'm 25. It bothers me when I can't identify my own baby in a picture. They all looked completely unique, though slightly similar at the same time. As a mother, their differences were glaring to me. At any rate, this was a time in my life when I was learning the ropes of motherhood. I was finally doing what I'd always wanted to do: be a mom. And it was even better than I expected, but harder at the same time. "You mean, the baby might cry inconsolably sometimes even when I hold and cuddle and sooth for all I'm worth?" (Yes, but that's ok. He'll eventually feel good again.) But, once I got my motherhood-legs under me, my confidence soared. Until the next baby came along, and I had a lot of new things to learn. They were all so different, and that's what made it so fun and challenging. I loved my life back then. I felt like the most important person in the world when I was raising a child. And I was... to somebody. 

You said it so well Darlene. I was just thinking last night what I was like pre-children and how I had such huge expectations of what it would be like to be a mother. Even as dreamy as I was about it all, raising children even exceed how wonderful I thought it would be. But it also was the toughest thing I ever did. Some of those days back then were so long….I thought bedtime would never come.

I didn't realize before that you had such curly hair! How pretty.

Yes my hair was curlier and redder back then. I think they called it auburn. Like my mama's.