A Smiley Captain/Smiley Aficionado wrote to me this week. Why? With questions about his love life. Was I deeply honored. You bet! Way! Like really, like way, way, way! He’s only barely older than my oldest child. That he would seek my guidance as the “Smiley Lady” made my eyes fill and overrun with tears! (Greg: I have never been so honored. Perhaps you do not realize the honor you have paid to me. Thx!)
As we talked, I could not help but think of my own kids and the various places they find themselves as they begin to be adults (IMPORATANT note: It is a very long journey. At 51, I feel I have gotten a good start along this road. But, I know it is only a start! I will always be the little girl who is scared because I am the ”new girl.” [We moved a lot when I was a kid.])
He’d had a very important romantic relationship end without closure. We IM’d our way thru what had happened and what needed to happen for this dear young man to move on. Dear, Greg, I am happy that you are in a better place than you were last week. Remember that being the genuine Greg is the most important job that you will ever have!!!!!
I know it seems like I’m tooting my own horn, but truly that is not my intention. I really was deeply honored that he asked for my advice. As in: tears running down my face unable to respond until I’d taken a moment/many moments to really listen to what he related and to think thru what I would say if he were my little boy (Aren’t all the people we meet somebody’s little boy or little girl? Really? I mean really, really! Here I think: Please remember that I, Ruth, am really, really just the little girl who grew up with the challenges I faced and am now trying to be the best Ruth that I can be.).
So, I sign off saying: I was born to be a Mom. If I filled that role for Greg and helped him thru a difficult time, I am deeply honored. Can you, quite frankly, imagine a better way to spend one’s time? It is in this role that I feel the most comfortable and the most worthy. Thank you, Greg. Thank you, Smiley friends.
Smile. Be Happy
Ruth