By Casey Hoskins
I have been absent in my weekly missives for two weeks now due to two ugly words: wisdom teeth. What I was told would be a routine thing turned into an opportunity for prayer and much needed sleep.
There is much to take from this experience, I’m sure, but what I will hold with me forever is being told that this is what happens when you’re in your 40’s. Super. I don’t generally mind getting older. I feel better about myself with each passing year, I am not as easily offended by words thrown in anger or fear, and I am undoubtedly more confident in my abilities as an upholsterer and a human. I guess I wasn’t prepared for my lack of decision-making skills and the repercussions they cause at 42.
I realize there are some of you that are telling me to wait until I’m in my *insert age here* and still others that are not quite 40 yet and are now more scared than they were a minute ago. Thus is life. I remember when I was 25, a new mom to three children and completely out of my depth. One day I looked at my dad and asked why it was so much harder with three kids. Why did that number cause so much hair-pulling? He laughed and said it because it is an odd number, one child will always throw the balance. Thanks Dad! You couldn’t impart some of that wisdom on me prior to having the third one?! In my 30s, it was all about being an Uber driver for my kids. You want them to be in the clubs, the sports, the trips, etc. What you don’t want is to live in your car but that is exactly what you’re doing for a few years. Advice I got? “This is what it is, kid.” My mom, in her effort to help me relate, regaled me with her stories of when her older two were in one school, her third in another, and her baby in yet another and no one got out at the same time. This prior to cell phones so she sat with her magazines and books for three hours every day. Ugh. She never admitted to taking naps though…but she had to, right?
There are a lot more stories from those formative years as a parent, spouse, and young adult and I’ll share them at some point. Today, however, I will share a little advice. Laugh at what you can. Everyone has it hard at some point in their life, and then that point will reappear and you’ll deal with it again. But, (there is always a but) everyone has great moments too, where life is messy but in a good way. It still isn’t easy but it is always worth it and if you can laugh then you’re playing a better game. Share one of your laughable moments and get the smiles going.
