I'm pretty far along in life to feel a sense of beginning, but there you are. The laughter of life has preceded this moment, watching the blur of childhood that still energizes the air anytime it whizzes by with high pitched voices in the midst of play. The voices of my children resonate in quieter baritone and bass now and I wonder if it's really possible that I am fifty something and in love.
We mid-life couples have a tall task as we find a niche in a fully formed unit. It requires a suprising amount of tact and patience! We've got all this life experience and know our own minds, so there seems no reason to dally, but that's not entirely how it works for the family. They need to be gentled to the idea, over countless humid and lazy summer afternoons on the back porch, sipping mint juleps and watching honeysuckle bloom.
Playing in the 'Be Anything Box', we find it hard to wait.
You haven't heard? The BeAnythingBox is in a corner of the house and is stuffed with everything you imagine would be there: prom dresses, feather boas, cowboy hats, tool belts, mortarboards, word searches, magnifying glasses, military uniforms, chef aprons and executive briefcases. It is chock full of art and books and music waiting to be set free. You can be a footsoldier one day, an International photographer the next, and after that a Queen...
Kingdoms are built with sheets draped over the dining room table. After a tiring day of discovering Shakespeare and stars, excavation dirt during the archaeological dig in the garden would need to be scrubbed off to be ready for story time and sweet nighttime hugs.
And when we have outgrown it, the BeAnythingBox lives on in our hearts. It's in the amazing world of college and trips to pyramids and the Sistine Chapel. It's in the burst of excitement with diving a shallow wreck or standing in the foyer of Westminster Abbey or lying on a sunny beach in Fiji. It's in the warm embrace of those we love most and holding a newborn in our arms. It is the music of our lives and -- like love -- is sweetest when we savor it tender and slow.
