The Meaning Of Life
2004-07-07 @ 10:42 a.m.

The meaning of life.

The age old question.

We've all asked this question at one time or another, or we will before our lives are over.

It's something that has eluded me for the past several months.

I used to think that the meaning of life was the perfect family. A mom, a dad, 2.5 children. The perfect house with white pickett fence, and 2 small SUV's. We'd go to church every Sunday morning, have a big Sunday dinner with the whole family and live happily ever after sitting on our porch swing at dusk eating oreos.

While I still don't know what the meaning of life is, I know the dreams above are not it.

My family is tattered. My mother and father in ruins, two out of three of my brothers suffer severe learning disabilities due to the enviroment they grew up in.

I'm divorced at 22. A single mom. A working girl, in a tough and expensive world.

I love my life. My daughter is the only real family I have these days. And I couldn't be more thankful. I dream of her as an adult, me being her best friend. I wouldn't mind being single still, laughing with her when she come's over every Friday night for "girl's night" while we watch movies and talk about how in love she is with her boyfriend.

I know now, that the meaning of life is different for each and every person. That it's really more about the way you feel in each moment, rather than the whole picture. That it changes in a breath, a heartbeat, and even in moments when we don't realize it's changed at all.