Monday, August 30, 2010
Defining Stories
Who we are is based on the things that make up our past and to what extent we have chosen to let it go. My husband gave a prompt to his high school class that has been making me think of how I would answer.
“Pick one story from your life that describes who you are.”
My first response was to tell a story of something big that happened in my life and then I realized that I was misunderstanding the question. Wow. That question was bigger than I thought. Describe myself? All of me? Where do I start? I have to just pick one? Turns out that had I been one of his students, my paper would have been late. The story that (I think) I have picked is the story of my engagement.
Sean had planned out a major trip to propose to me in Muir Woods just like his father did for his mother. I was working and was totally unaware of the extent of the work he had to do to keep it all a secret. He got time off from my boss, his boss, asked my mother for my hand, booked the flight/rental car/hotel, packed my bags, arranged a limo to the airport, and made sure that the whole way there I would have no idea what was going on.
It worked.
I was completely oblivious to the network of people around me that would go to such lengths to make sure that this would be a perfect memory. I had no idea there were so many people who not just cared, but were “real” friends and family. I didn’t know so many people saw me as being worth all that. I hadn’t realized how lucky I was.
Even now I forget how many people I really have around me that would be there if I needed them; who see value in me. I used to have a collage of faces of the people I called family. Since then I have had to put so many faces into it that I had to stop. The poster size frame was full. Having small reminders of the people who really care is important to me on those days where I seem to be oblivious to the love I have around me. I hope I can someday give that love back to them, when they are in need of it.