The end of February makes me nostalgic for two reasons.
First is Pink Shirt Day. I remember wearing a pink shirt and posing for a photo with my classmates in February of 2011. It was the first time we hosted Pink Shirt Day at our school and the photo is goofy.
Back when I didn’t have to sit on the floor and clean the built up hair out of my vacuum cleaner. Back when I didn’t have to shop for groceries or get up at 5:30 a.m. to make it to work on a Monday morning. Back when there were pets living in my house that greeted me with excitement everyday.
See. Nostalgic.
The other reason the end of February makes me reminisce is because my birthday is in the beginning of March and much like on New Year’s, I like to take a hard look at my life.
When you were little, what did you think you would be doing, or have accomplished by the time you were 25?
I don’t ever remember planning ahead to a specific age, it was more a sequence of events. Graduate high school. Go to university and get a degree but at the same time find a husband. Settle down in a big city. Get married. Have kids and take them to visit my parents on the farm every summer.
I thought for sure by the time I was 25 I would have all of that figured out, 25 seems so old when you’re 10.
I’m not complaining. I have more figured out than some people and less figured out than others. But it is kind of funny to look back at the things that you thought you would be.
Towards the end of high school I thought I would be gallivanting around the world and writing for National Geographic. That was back before I understood how much travelling costs, how much writers get paid and how much I love having consistent friends, cafés and one bed to sleep in.
I still struggle with this a little bit. Sometimes it is still what I want. Other times I feel like I am letting down my 17-year-old self, that I am giving up on her dreams.
But I’m working on being okay with that.
I also like to think about what my parents and grandparents were up to when they were 25.
Mom and dad were in university, they wouldn’t meet for another few years. Mom said she celebrated her 25th birthday by spending the weekend at a guest ranch and going horseback riding.
My grandma would already have had a number of children by the time she was 25. She had 10 altogether and started at 18 or 19. She would be keeping house, raising babies and doing farm chores.
Times sure have changed! I like visiting with my friend and her new baby but no way would I want to have multiple children already. I applaud the women who handle that.
Meanwhile my only plans are to put on a pretty dress and laugh the night away with my friends.
A bit different than what my 10-year-old self thought I would be doing at 25, but hey, she didn’t know much about life yet anyway.