My Life IS Like a Book (It's Just Not a Fairy Tale)

Earlier this week, Lucy and I sat talking in my bed, snuggled up together at bedtime. She and Ben had just come back from a weekend at their dad’s house and we had a lot of catching up to do. She was in the middle of telling me about the book she finished when she stopped and asked, “Mom, do you ever wish your life was like a book? With adventures and saving people and stuff?”

Not two days earlier I had spent the afternoon with a total stranger, the brother of a friend-of-a-friend (of a friend), whose son had just been diagnosed with autism. He was overwhelmed. His world had been rocked and he didn’t know if he was coming or going, much less what he should do next. So I listened to his worries, told him who to call, what to read, what websites to visit and which tools to download. I gave him power in the form of information. Then I ran around Green Lake with him (far faster than I would have liked) and told him (between gasps for air) about the bright, funny, sweet and charming  young man that Ben is. And finally, I told him everything was going to be all right, although perhaps a different kind of “all right” than he had previously envisioned. The next day I got an e-mail from his sister (the friend-of-the-friend of my friend) thanking me for my time. She told me her brother seemed like a new person. A person with purpose and direction. A person with hope. So I looked at Lucy, smiled just a little and answered her question with a question, “What makes you think my life isn't like a book with adventures and saving people and stuff?”

Ignoring my question completely, she went on, “But the books always end there. What do you think happens after you save everyone?”

And I thought, “Oh sweet Lucy. You can't save everyone as much as I know you’d like to and the sooner you learn that the happier you’ll be.” But because that’s a conversation for another day, and all that really matters right now is that she learn the importance of saving herself (something I’m desperately trying to learn, and hopefully teach her in the process), I said simply, “Probably you live happily ever after, Lu. At least that’s what I’m hoping for.”

Just because my life isn't a fairy tale doesn't mean there's no happily ever after. And in the spirit of heeding my own advice, I'm bearing in mind that it may not be the "happily ever after" I previously envisioned.