Two Roads Converge

Robert Frost once wrote about the value of taking a less-traveled road.  I, however, stood at the crossroads for many years before choosing the more traditional path of partnership and parenthood, and that, for me, has made all the difference.When I was in high school, I assumed I would take that bumpier road - I had no intention of succumbing to what I saw as a life of housework (to be fair, I don't succumb to that all that often) and diaper changing.  I fantasized about being an impoverished writer or artist living in a Parisian garret over a cafe where I would have croissants and marmalade for breakfast every day (and somehow be able to enjoy the shoe shopping)  Did I mention it was a fantasy?  Somewhere in the hormone-soaked daydreams, I knew the reality would be different, but one theme was constant - I would have adventure in my life.  And, even though I would choose the same path if I found myself at the same fork again, I sometimes wish it was possible to send a part of myself down the road less-traveled and have those adventures.

Recently, though, I have had a glimpse of that other road through the trees.  Through work and the Hubbard Hall Writer's Project, I have had the unexpected pleasure of meeting several amazing women who not only forsook the well-traveled path but blazed their own trails.  They dared not only to imagine lives outside of marriage and/or motherhood (something that still sparks heated debate in our society), but they dared to live them.  Some stories I know, some I guess at, and, while I wouldn't trade my own adventures for all the pastries in Paris, knowing these women and hearing about their adventures enriches my own journey every day.

Vive la difference!