There are so many days I feel like I am drowning in the memories of my life. I find myself hiding from the moments of my yesterdays even when I want to remember. I am working hard these days to unearth them from the dusty and mostly moldy corners of my soul. There are events that cause an ache that I can feel in my toes. Others times that send tingles of joy through my fingertips.

How does one categorize a life? What are the pieces that one takes in from those day to day moments that create a life story?

I am working at putting all those bits together to share how I became me. The adventures I have taken on my own terms and the other ones that were forced upon me. All of them have blended together and are begging me to share the ups and downs of my personal history.

Each chance I can these days I sneak back into my journals from a few decades ago and I remember who I was back then. I find myself surprised at how little I knew and how naive I was. I was a young bride escaping from a childhood of lots of painful crevices that I glossed over just to survive.  Once in a while there is a glimpse into those long ago days just through the words written upon those aged pages. The crazy thing about this journey is that I see how those little bits and pieces made me who I am. They make up the hidden gems of me that I really like. They made me strong, compassionate and full of empathy for others who have also lived through the adventures that are forced upon them.

I have evolved from the minnow that swims in the dark to a beautiful mermaid and I am now coming to the surface to share my story.

That sunshine sure is feeling nice and I am feeling very positive about the next chapter.