On weekends I often go down to my parents' house, which is on a farm in a small town less than two hours from the city. I love it there. Not only because I get to spend time with two of my favorite people on the planet, but also because it's the perfect antidote to living in a big city. There's lots of space and grass and - of course - trees.
I don't often socialize in town when I'm visiting - in fact, I haven't seen most of the people I went to school with since I lived there... And unless I'm planning on going to church, I don't bring much more than a pair of jeans and a t-shirt - which was what I packed this weekend...
But this weekend my father was giving the commencement speech at the local college. I hadn't planned on attending, but at the last minute my mom asked me to go with her. So with a five-minute-to-departure warning I rummaged through the closet in my sister's old bedroom and pulled out a dress. I couldn't find any shoes though, so I borrowed a pair of my mom's. They were two sizes too big, but I was able to walk in them fairly easily.
As we pulled up to the building I commented to my mother that I hoped I wouldn't see anyone I knew. No one goes to graduations unless they're actually graduating, right? Wrong...
Now, if I were to plan for a reunion with people I hadn't seen in years I wouldn't show up in an ill-fitting dress and gigantic shoes. I probably would even have spent some time putting on make-up and taming my hair... But I didn't get to plan it. It turns out I got to see everyone exactly as I was... The universe has a funny sense of humor that way.
And maybe that's not a bad thing. Sometimes it's easier to give up being attached to how you appear to everyone else when you don't have a whole lot of control over it.
But this weekend my father was giving the commencement speech at the local college. I hadn't planned on attending, but at the last minute my mom asked me to go with her. So with a five-minute-to-departure warning I rummaged through the closet in my sister's old bedroom and pulled out a dress. I couldn't find any shoes though, so I borrowed a pair of my mom's. They were two sizes too big, but I was able to walk in them fairly easily.
As we pulled up to the building I commented to my mother that I hoped I wouldn't see anyone I knew. No one goes to graduations unless they're actually graduating, right? Wrong...
Now, if I were to plan for a reunion with people I hadn't seen in years I wouldn't show up in an ill-fitting dress and gigantic shoes. I probably would even have spent some time putting on make-up and taming my hair... But I didn't get to plan it. It turns out I got to see everyone exactly as I was... The universe has a funny sense of humor that way.
And maybe that's not a bad thing. Sometimes it's easier to give up being attached to how you appear to everyone else when you don't have a whole lot of control over it.
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