Youth

Parenting always makes a person think of their youth. In this case, I don't mean the years I was a child. I mean youth as vitality .. youth as not having experience a lot of pain .. naive hope.. stuff like that. I mean the spirit of being young. My digital photo library only goes back to 2004 and I was trying to find a picture from that time. I found a picture of me with friends out at a party -- my bachelorette party. The thing about the picture that is interesting to me is that I don't just look younger .. I look like I've lived less -- suffered less. Life and parenting are definitely aging me. It's fascinating how the stress and pain of life appears on the face.. especially the eyes. I do not long for that time, and there is no way I'd be who I am today and have that same face..