India Update 1

Standing in the line at security in the Minneapolis Airport, my heart is pounding. I was 5 years old the last time I was this anticipatory for anything. Waiting in line for your destiny feels quite like waiting in line for your first day of Kindergarten.

The security officer yells "Anything from aerosol to peanut butter to guacamole must fit in your zip lock bag." Indeed, this security officer sounds a lot more like a cafeteria Nazi than airport staff. But here I am.

Backpack in tow, pass in hand. It's like getting ready for Kindergarten class, but as I hand my passport and boarding pass to the security officer at the gate, I slowly come to realize that I've been waiting for this moment for 22 years, not 5 and this is where reality and destiny collide. The world will be my teacher, not Mrs. McKay and I am ready to be schooled:
           Letting go of all
                    so familiar to be
                           beautifully changed.

Like a timid school girl, I look back at my parents and boyfriend. I give them a quirky thumbs up and smile big. Wave goodbye. Blow a big kiss. This is where my future becomes my present. I will never be the same. I step forward. I will be forever changed.

Whenever you see a small child this week, think of me. Childhood is bliss, but only for a moment, then we step into the great unknown of adulthood to become all childhood has shaped . This is the time, when I step away from the child in me to become the woman I was made to be. I will be broken, rocked, and moved. As pain produces growth, so experience produces maturity, and it is now. So whenever you see a child, think of me. Here's to growing up.