This Is The Time Of My Life

When I was a little girl life was wonderful, magical. There were no real responsibilities just growing, playing and trying not to get into to much trouble. We lived next door to my Grandma Ream until I was seven and that was so wonderful. I could go over to her house whenever I wanted, I had two yards to play in instead of just one, and the neighborhood was great. Tree's grown together over the road making a shady canopy, friends near by, riding my bike up and down the block..... the world was just a better place back then. Kids were not afraid to walk across town to get to the soda fountain shop run by Mr. Alter, where my parents would sometimes take us to get green rivers, or a chocolate soda. (still a favorite of mine today) I have such fond memories of my childhood, I could go on forever. We moved across town when I was seven and it was still the same town, but the kids next door were a bit rougher, we had entered the 70's and although life was still great, it lost some of the magic.
Don't get me wrong it was still a great time and place to live and grow up and it held a little magic. We had two boys living across the street , a girl on one side and the three younger ruffians on the other side were a lot of fun. I remember playing red rover, tag, hide and seek, and our version of the Indy 500 was to run circles around the yard, and come into the pits for a bit of black pepper on our finger which we then ate for the "gas" fill-up. Life was still good...
The teen years brought high school, jobs, and sometimes hard things that those years seem to bring, along with some good times too. I found myself wishing I were in my twenties, wanting my life to "start". Wanting to be grown up,to date a lot and have a good time.
My twenties hit, and it was more fun again. I had a full time job, a car and house, and all those grown up responsibilities you never think of as a child. I was going to the singles branch at Purdue for church, and so I made friends, hung out with them, went on a dates with some guys. I remember doing things I really shouldn't have with my friends... Like dumping laundry detergent into the big fountain at Purdue, Yelling "Condom patrol.......(I'll leave out the rest)" to students making out on the benches, forking the branch presidents lawn, saran wrapping his car,staying up all hours of the night going to movies, TPing peoples houses lots of good innocent fun. OK, so maybe the fountain soaping was not so Innocent. But these years also brought a new found loneliness. I dated some, but I found myself wishing I were married so I could truly love someone, share my life with him, and have the babies I always wanted.
Then came my thirties. Not too far into it came Lee, the man of my dreams. OK, he was a little shorter than I wanted, not dark like I wanted, but better than I could have possibly hoped for. I got a wonderful man who was making me so happy in every way. I was in love, so much so that I could hardly believe it was real. With that came the happiness that I had been seeking and longing for. We had so much fun in those days, going on dates every weekend, trips to places that I had never been to before, and just spoiling each other in any way we could find. However, a longing came into that happiness, a longing and desire for those babies I had always dreamed of. With that longing came a long hard battle to have those babies. Lots of losses and tears, all I wanted was to have children, I we seemed to be denied the one thing we wanted the most. Kate and more kids.
The Lord blesses. And we have truly been blessed. We were able to get custody of Kate when she was eight, have her sealed to us in the Temple of the Lord, and a few years later we were blessed with two additional kids. Now I have all that I have ever wanted out of life. A husband who loves me and cherishes me, three beautiful kids and yes, even a cat. We try to make time for fun, going on trips, playing games, reading together, just all around having an enjoyable time being a family. Ya, the kids fight, make messes, money is tight, trucks break down and so do our bodies, but as I look at my life it has been a good one. Some hard times, sad times, and times when I felt I didn't want to go on. But I am glad that I did, because I feel I have truly been blessed with a happy life. I am so happy, and I love my family so much!! As the song by David Cook says, This is the time of my life.