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There’s this scene in the 1980s version of About Last Night where Demi Moore’s character, Debbie, is rebuffing her former lover’s (and boss’s) advances. Steve’s a persistent one, not believing her first “no” and reminding her of what they once shared. Her response is angry…indignant, not so much at his uninvited gesture but because he can’t see “it,” her feelings for her current boyfriend.
Debbie: There’s somebody else now.
Steve: I don’t see a ring.
Debbie: I don’t need a ring…. Look at me. Don’t I look different? I’m in love, can’t you tell? This has never happened to me before. I want to have ten kids with this guy…doesn’t it show?
The scene strongly resonates with me though under different circumstances. I’ve felt a similar emotional tension, markers of something significant.
After I got married…
After giving birth to my first child…
The shock of learning I was post-menopausal when my body told a very different story…
When we’re young, we think there’s a point at which we’re grown. What I’ve come to realize is as long as we’re alive, we never stop growing, at least not in the ways that matter most. In the beginning, we celebrate a series of Firsts. Somewhere beyond the crest of the Hill we celebrate lasts.
Sometimes endings and beginnings are one in the same, the point of view and beauty therein lies in their beholder.
My youngest and I shared a dual ending/beginning, and it hit me he’s not the only one coming of age. So am I.
His departure ushers in a new season for me and I find myself wanting to scream
Look at me! Don’t I look different? This has never happened to me before!
I didn’t expect to feel different, but I do. Nothing has changed and yet everything has changed.
Everything that happens
has happened before,
and all that will be
has already been—
God does everything
over and over again.~ Ecclesiastes 3:15 CEV
Sometimes all I need to talk me off the ledge are Ancient Words.
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PLEASE check back as I continue this series, as I process this new and precious life season. Though I feel it deeply, and at times, painfully so, there is too much good about it I don’t want you to miss! It’s easy to subscribe for free, so if you haven’t yet, consider this my personal invitation. (Also, if you haven’t yet, please read the first post in this series.)
Thank you for this post, Robin, and for the two links to your menopause posts, as well! You have a sister here who is experiencing much of the same. I’m in the season of menopause (hot flashes are the new black!), my last child is getting married and moving away in October (this time the nest is really, truly empty), and retirement from my 8-5 job the week before her wedding. While I vacillate between looking forward to the future with eagerness and mourning the loss of what has been, I know the love of Christ never changes and so when things get a little too wild and crazy I know He is right there holding me steady. God bless you in your season of change and know you are definitely not alone!
Robin,
I turned 50 this year and it feels like my life has totally flipped upside down. It started last year with my aging moving into assisted living and having tons of medical issues. All that caused me stress & problems with work. This year I had to quit my job to care for my dad. Three weeks after quitting we put my dad on hospice. Adding to that my hubby had job issues last year. He had 3 jobs (all CT) with same company. Now he’s fearing a merger with the other medical company and is looking to go back to a hospital. Soo much going on all at once.
Somehow God will get us through these trials. He knows the plans He has for us. Plans to prosper us and not to harm us!
Blessings 🙂
LOVE.
and my fav line from that movie … Elizabeth Perkins: Never date a guy whose *ss is smaller than yours 😉
Ha!! Yes!! THAT is truth! 🙂 Thanks for the smile and reminder :).