Tuesday, April 14, 2009

It's not just about cereal

You know how you have this cool dream and you want to tell people about the dream, but then you remember that most people would rather stab their eyeball with a spork than listen to your dream? It means something to you, but it's hard to explain to everyone else? Yeah. This post is kind of like that.

Yesterday afternoon, I found myself talking to an old high school classmate. While I wouldn't have ever classified him as a "friend" we had joint friends and I'm sure that we all (as a very large group) hung out together a few times.

The conversation was a little different...mostly because we were talking about the challenges of dating people that are recently divorced. We agreed to meet up for a drink the next time he had a layover in Denver. Anyway, I found it an immense blessing. I mean, my home life was a little weird my junior and senior years of high school. So I made the unconscious decision to cope with all that stress by completely avoiding almost everyone from my home town when I moved away to college. It was a slow process, but I found it easier to forget the crap that I didn't want to think about when I wasn't reminded of how shitty life had become. Mature, I know.

The weirdest thing happened after I was off the phone with him. I guess I just realized all that had changed since I had seen him. First of all, I pay my own bills. I have bought almost all of the things I own. I have health care, that I have to pay for. I've kissed men. I've had sex. I've drank alcohol. I now sleep on a queen bed. I go to church, not because my parents make me, but because I crave spirituality and need to be reminded that salvation by grace alone is the greatest gift of all.

And all of the sudden, I realized that it's not just my ability to pick out my own cereal that makes me a grown up.

I just am a grown up.

So last night, after I set my alarm for my very adult job, and climbed into my bed made with sheets that I washed myself, I cuddled up with my pooh bear.

Even grown ups have their vices.

2 comments:

turleybenson said...

Amen, sister. Being a grown up is waaaay better than being a kid, or especially a teenager.

And I like church too.

Patty said...

I agree...especially the drinking and sex part. And doing everything because you want to not because you had to.