Life Paid Me Back

The foundation of any successful business has a set of immutable laws that bring with it the values, mores, and experiences of the owner. They are the same laws found in life. So it is appropriate to share this next blog with you.

Life Paid Me Back

When I was six months pregnant with my little daughter, my husband received a catastrophic diagnosis that would change the dynamic of our family. My little daughter was born in a time of turbulence where I became a single parent never being able to give her the kind of devotion and adoring attention that my eldest daughter received.

Reality and survival got in the way and I often felt my baby was cheated out of the white picket fence scenario that allows Mommy to stay home. In my mind every child deserved to have that experience as they come into this world. Now, twenty six years later, as my baby embarks upon her own independence, I realize that life does pay back what it took in the first place.

Catastrophic experiences have a way of reshaping long held beliefs and perceptions. It opens the door to uncharted possibilities. For both my daughters it resulted in them becoming young women of courage and tenacity that I not only respect and admire but they grew into these amazing people.

As I face the prospect of an empty nest, I am blessed that my little daughter decided to come back home from college and spend the past few years inviting me happily into her adventures. It includes the current one which involves helping her find her first apartment.

With my eldest daughter married, the last three years has given my youngest and I a joy that can only be shared by bonds born from a journey resulting in the reshaping of three lives - her sister’s, hers, and mine. Looking back I realize the decisions I made then were the right ones even if they were the scariest. I learned that courage is the not absence of fear but the ability to strive and thrive despite it. The commitment took desire and perseverance over a 10 year period of time that included overcoming the severe economic disaster from my first husband’s illness, with a dose of goals and strategic planning.

It’s a lesson that seemed to play out over and over again last year in front of my now grown daughters as we watched three close family members experience catastrophic disasters one after the other. Two out of the three survived. It also played out in my baby not making career decisions based upon fear but pushing past them to embark on better career paths.

As my little daughter searches Manhattan for that right mix of neighborhood, space, and amenities for a particular price, it not only allows me the chance to emotionally let her go, but it fulfills a wish from so long ago. To give my baby the opportunity to embark upon a world equipped not only with the tools to build a happy life but the unconditional gift of love, joy, and adoration every person deserve as they stand on the thresholds of a new beginning. Life paid me back what it took. This time my baby gives it to me.