It's times like this that I love to reflect back on the details of my life with my freakishly good long-term memory. (The short-term one seems to be suffering at the moment.) It's been a sweet, sweet life. Childhood was fantastic. Mom was home with us most days when we were very young, and we were constantly with our cousins. Like most people who grew up around here, we spent many afternoons at the Railroad Park and entire summer days in the backyard swimming pool. During the summer, our family would go to Newport Beach, which usually involved one day at Disneyland, and also to northern Minnesota to visit my dad's family. Camping and lake days on the boat were also frequently on the weekend agenda. We did houseboat trips to Lake Powell, which continues to be my most favorite place to go (even though I haven't been in years), and later in our new house, we tore around the desert on 4-wheelers. We made up plays with our cousins and built forts indoors and out. Our pets consisted of dogs, a potbelly pig, gerbils, hamsters, guinea pigs, rabbits, snakes, and more. Every holiday was a reason for an enormous family gathering, and every birthday was a reason for a party...usually at the Railroad Park or Peter Piper Pizza. Yes, I had an extremely hyperactive brother who usually took his energy out on me in a physically violent way, but that pales in comparison to the good times.
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| Maybe I should try one of these haircuts again? |
Middle school, like for most people, was an awkward time, and I had no problems saying good-bye to start life as a high schooler. Those four teenage years were some of the most fun I can remember. I joined my brother at Saguaro rather than going to the neighboring high school, where I started with a clean slate and made some great friends. I was a student council nerd and loved going to Friday night football games, even though I didn't know that much about football (and still don't). I didn't miss a single school dance, and everything I did was done with energy and enthusiasm. I did well in school but had an immature and wild streak and would collaborate with friends on playing pranks and causing trouble. I played tennis and even badminton but was mediocre at both. Playing sports beat working at a job after school, which was the deal I made with my parents. It had to be one or the other. I did, however, work the Sunday night shift bagging groceries at AJ's, which kept enough money in my wallet to tear around town with my friends on the weekends. I was pretty sad when graduation rolled around, but everyone said that college was the best time of life, so I was glad that was in my future.
(I'm having trouble finding pictures of high school that aren't cut and pasted into a scrapbook.)
But actually, I didn't really like college. Not at first. I started off at ASU, not because I really wanted to but because I was too scared to go too far away. Looking back, I'm glad I didn't waste a ton of money on out-of-state tuition. But I did find myself two hours south in Tucson after the first semester of my sophomore year. Things really came together at the U of A. I shared an apartment with some of my favorite ladies, and we had so much fun. Life was so easy and uncomplicated as a college student. We thought certain things were deserving of high drama, but we were just kids. We had our share of poor decision-making, eating like crap, and drinking too much. I rode my yellow beach cruiser just about everywhere I needed to go, and I can even recall some handlebar rides around campus or rollerblading around town just because it was really fun and pretty hilarious (ahem, Nora). Man, we had fun.
When that chapter closed, next up was pharmacy school. But not before Steph and I made the rounds in Europe with just ourselves and our backpacks for a month. Honestly, I kept going to school after college because I thought working like a real grown-up sounded like a shitty way to live life. I was right! I finally had the guts to get out of town, and so I went all the way across the country to Charleston, SC. Talk about culture shock. Everything about everything was different there. But I really embraced it. I made lots of good friends right away, who were actually more like family because you spent every day with them at school and also ate, relaxed, and partied with them at night and on the weekends. It was really good for me to get out of Arizona for a while. The South is an interesting place. I don't think I would ever want to live there again, but I'm glad I had a few years to live near the beach, in a small historical city. Half-way through pharmacy school, four of us girls again strapped on our backpacks and did Australia and New Zealand for a few weeks. Being young is so, so cool. I would never, ever encourage anybody to grow up too quickly.
During my final week in Charleston, a bunch of family and friends came to town for graduation, and unbeknownst to me, my engagement to Dylan. He and I had been dating for a couple years, and he sealed the deal by presenting me with the world's most beautiful engagement ring on graduation day. I was thrilled! I moved back to Scottsdale and started my first job as a pharmacist at Target, and thus began my current phase of life as a working/married person. I've recognized several perks of this stage of life over the earlier ones, but at first it was really hard to adjust to being a real adult. I've found a great balance, and life is very, very good now that I've worked out the kinks. We have a great house way out in the desert, plenty of friends and family, our health, our crazy little dogs, hobbies and fun things to do, and each other.
We put off having babies for longer than most people do, and I think that was a very good thing for us. We've found our bearings in life, and we're ready to give this little guy 100% of everything we've got, which is what he deserves. Parenthood will undoubtedly be the longest season of life, one that actually never ends. Because what comes next? Empty nest-hood? Retirement?
Good thing they say that having kids is simply the biggest blessing a person could have and the greatest joy in life. I have no idea what it will be like, but I'll take everyone else's word for it. Except when they say that it's the hardest job you'll ever have. I do not agree with that. It is not a job. Nobody has a kid because they expect a paycheck in return for all their hard work. (But how perfect would the world be if you could earn money by parenting?) It may be the largest role and most demanding responsibility you'll ever have, but it is not a job. Because it provides more reward and fulfillment than anything a person could ever do for money, and it's just nature's way. We are programmed to want to reproduce, and it's just what we do. It may be hard, but I've known plenty of people who have raised babies, toddlers, children, and teenagers and have done just fine and loved (almost) every minute of it. So I'm up for the challenge, and I'm pretty sure that I, too, will do just fine. The Selfish Lu way of life is wrapping up quickly. I may have forgotten to do a couple of things while I was still young, but not many. I covered a lot of territory, accomplished a lot, met interesting people, and took full advantage of my first 30 years. I have few regrets. Let's turn the page.
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