If you really knew me, you'd know...

 ** That I loved to sing when I was kid and did so with joy all through out high school. That I wanted to sing for the rest of my life.  

**  That I placed 1st Chair Alto in the All Girls Regional Choir my senior year in high school.

**  That I stopped signing because I was told I needed something to fall back on...it took years for me to start singing again.


** That I am determined not to let anyone (including me) side track my kid's passions by telling them to find something to fall back on.  That I don't want anyone else to find a fall back instead of focusing on their passion.

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**  That I loved all most every minute of the time I lived in Europe.  It stopped being fun after 9/11 but I would pack up and go back in a heartbeat.

**  That when I lived in Italy, sometimes after my daughter went off to school I would get on the train and spend the day in Florence at a cafe.

**  That I cried for an hour on the flight back to the US at the end of our time living in Europe.  That sometimes I still catch myself saying "I've only been back a few years (but really its been 10 years). That part of my lottery winning plan includes a home in Italy.

**  That I once took a DNA test to discover where in Africa my ancestral mothers came from.  That I waited to open the results until I was circling with other women.  That reclaiming my ancestry made such a huge difference in my life, because knowing where I came from helped to quiet the questions and stay focused on where I'm going.  


** That after years of telling myself I wasn't as good a teacher as my mom, I fully and truly embraced being a teacher because I've found my own way of doing it.  I'm really good at it and it makes my heart sing.

                                                                                     
                                                                                          *****



The inspirational spark for this missive comes from the fabulous word smith Alexandra Franzen, whom I highly recommend falling in love with.  Also, if I sound like someone you'd like to get to know better, sign up for my newsletter.