What I Wish I Could Tell That Broken-Hearted Woman Who Popped Up In My Facebook Memory
I wasn’t expecting this.
My future to come screaming from my past this week.
You know those reminders Facebook surprises you with on a regular basis?
“Daryn! We thought you’d like to look back on this memory from seven years ago!”
They can bring on a smile.
They can also bring on pain,
When someone who has passed,
Or broken your heart shows up without warning.
This one,
The photo that popped up on my feed this week would be a curtain about to reveal my future.
The moment before my forever.
Seven years ago this weekend I went on trip with my mom, sister, sister-in-law and nephew.
Nephew was 12 and getting honored at Pop Warner football banquet in Philadelphia.
So we women folk met up.
Like a girls’ trip plus one.
One adored nephew.
Why not?
It’s not like there was somewhere else I had to be.
Someone else to be with.
The post is mostly photos of me and my goofy nephew.
Trying on hats in the Betsy Ross House in Philadelphia.
My smile is somewhat authentic.
He’s always been such a great kid.
Any time with him then, at 12, and now at 19 is such a gift.
So that part of my smile was real.
What you can’t see in those pictures,
But I remember so well,
My heart.
My hurting heart.
What a sad, lonely time of my life.
The juncture when I’d finally given up.
There would be no true love for me.
No family,
No kids.
This one here was and is a ray of sunshine in my life. Here we are posing next to The Liberty Bell.
“Oh, sweet girl,” I want to reach through the screen.
To comfort so terribly sad, defeated me.
“If you only knew what was coming,” I would say.
Who was coming.
Seven years ago,
Exactly one week from when those photos were taken, my life changed forever.
I met him.
The man I introduced to you in this column as, “Mr. SummerFest.”
The one I now call, “Husband.”
Let me tell you about this man.
This man who has shown up as no man ever did before.
Who adores me.
Who has made a life with me.
This man who is known to cut his toe nails over the kitchen sink.
What?
You thought I was selling you perfection?
Hardly.
Perfect this man,
This life, is not.
But better?
Oh my, it is so much better.
So much I had dreamed of.
Filled with a partner.
Raising kids.
Cleaning up puppy poop.
Remember the part about not perfect?
I share not to boast.
Simply to say, Dear Reader.
It’s possible this is your sad time.
Your “My dream will never come true” time.
Whatever that dream is.
I share simply to divert you from your sad for thirty seconds.
To maybe consider the thought,
That every happy surprise has a moment before it happens.
Seconds of bleak, dark, challenging.
Maybe it’s possible this week is the moment before your life changes forever.
Keep your eyes open.
Your better might just be on its way.
Could just be the best memory of your life is about to be made.
That goofy kid? This is him now. 19. Just finished freshman year of college. With his dad. My brother. My heart be still.
((Please catch my column each week in The Atlanta Journal Constitution, The Dayton Daily News and other Cox Newspapers across the country.)))
And if you enjoy this column about family and finding love, you might enjoy my book,
