And in the past 10 years, I…

One of my friends from high school forwarded me an email about a 10 year reunion. Obviously my first thought was ‘10 years’?! *! I am old!

And obviously my next move was to start ‘googling’ everyone on the list! (Oh, you know you would be doing the same thing!)

Now, I am not even thinking of going back to Trinidad with 3 little kids and 50 extra pounds, but just trying to imagine the conversation…

high school classmate: “Hey! I’m a criminal lawyer in London, you can find some of my articles in popular law journals! So what have you been up to?”
me: “Hi! Great to see you! What have I been doing for the past 10 years? hmmm, well, umm, did I tell you that I have 3 kids? Yeah! And you can find some of my articles on my very un-popular blog!”

Somehow, when in the company of former-classmates-that-are-now lawyers, doctors, engineers, people with a masters degrees in their discipline, or even just people who make a lot of money, saying that I am a ‘web developer on maternity leave with my third kid’ just rings of loooooserness!

I love the fact that I had my kids young, seriously, I do, but I often think about the possibilities and opportunities that I missed because at the i-can-be-anything-i-want age of 24, I chose to be a mommy!

My life did not unravel the way that I had anticipated. I had envisioned myself traveling the world, having adventures (not of the motherhood-type), pursuing education to the level of doctorate (funny huh?), and so many other things that just remain aspiring thoughts of an 18 year old. But, even with all my unrealized dreams, this unforeseen life that I share with my beautiful kids is so much more fulfilling that I could have ever imagined.

How do you feel when you meet people that you went to school with? Do you feel accomplished, or like a failure because your life just did not end up the way you intended?