the story.

We all have a story. A short story. A novel. Sometimes something as confusing as a story within a story. When one chapter ends, another begins. Everyday we are writing these pages. When we think about our life, our story is more than likely made up of a series of events and major highlights such as:

• Born in
• Grew up in
• Went to school at
• Majored in
• Worked for
• Got married
• Bought a house
• Had “x” amount of kids

My Mom has always, for as long as I can remember had this thing with reading the obituaries in the local paper- I often would wonder, "why in the world would you want to look at that? It's death it's not like the best read." I have come to realize that when you look at them you learn a lot about how ones life is defined; you see their story in short. Most are made up of the person’s major accomplishments that go on and on forever, but nothing about who they really were. Columns and sometimes pages filled with the majority of the focus being on where they were born, their education and work. Reading that makes me think, “how do I define my life?, who am I, how do I want my story to be depicted…remembered?” I do recognize that those big moments in life do contribute, but I also know that I don’t want to live my life trying to build my resume or to write a fancy obituary. We can’t let those milestones, the big events overshadow the tiny details, the sweet moments that fall in the spaces between, for they are what makes our story unlike any other. I recently saw an obituary; it was short, sweet and spoke right to my heart, it read:

Margaret, Aunt, Sis, Sparkling smile.
A love for Manhattans and Monet, a fundamental honesty,
Have you ever heard a 101 year old giggle?
Her family misses her dearly.
She was remembered for exactly who she was, undoubtedly so.

Here are some of my in between moments:
• the spontaneous trips that my parents used to take when my brother and I were small. Three o’clock in the morning would roll around and we are being loaded in the back of the jeep in our pajamas, eyes barely cracked to travel who knows where.
• drawing a line in the car or carpet and threatening my sister to cross it.
• becoming a second mommy to my youngest sister
• the times where the four of us are alone, hanging out, being stupid and laughing hysterically into the wee hours of the morning
• driving up and down the drive way to get “practice” for my driving test- in the meantime running the vehicle I was driving along side my moms- brother and sister in tow, I was screaming “oh, $#!+, oh $#!+!” I just knew my life was over.
• the moment I knew I had found the “one”- that little click that happened.
• my husband taking me to my first ever play for our one year anniversary- I will never forget that day
• the ride to our honeymoon I cried the entire way to Charleston- it was one of the biggest changes I had ever made. My poor husband!
• the days that are filled with giggles and adventures.
• snuggle time at night with my kiddo, the kisses, those hugs with the pats on the back, the I love you’s and “momma, you’re the best!” I so look forward to this time every single day.

Where I went to school, landing a job, relocating, buying a house are all big events in my life, but none of them, not a single one compares to any of those above and that’s not even the half of it, there are millions more of them. When I think about my life and the story that I am creating, in the end I want to be remembered for exactly who I am, not just for the big moments or major accomplishments, although a part of me too. I want those I love to know the things that put a sparkle in my eye, that make my heart smile, the details of my life. I want the in between moments to be remembered, because they are what make me…me.

I want to be 101 years old and still giggle.