They were a study of contrasts, two vastly different women in the grocery store on a Friday night.
One was older. Her graying hair was pulled back in a long, loose ponytail. She wore festive autumn stocks with Birkenstock sandals. Her pleated navy pants and shapeless, heavily patterned sweater bespoke woman who no longer had the body of a woman half her age. Her basket contained little - a package of strawberries, a half gallon of milk, several cans of cat food.
The other woman was younger. Her hair was cropped short in a stylish bob and was ruthlessly straightened. She wore 3 inch stilleto pumps, fitted tweed pants and a colorful trench coat. She separated her groceries - a 6-pack of light beer and a ripe, round lime - from the woman in front of her.
The two women exchanged the cursory, polite glances of strangers in a grocery store. Then the older of the pair turned to the younger... as is she'd felt the younger woman's curious and pitying stare on the back of her head.
"I was like you, once," the wolder woman said. "I was young and stylish. I wasn't always the woman who bought cat food on a Friday night.
"When I was your age," the older woman continued, "I didn't think that my life would turn out like this. I thought that when I was 50, I would have had it all: The career, the husband, the kids. The white picket fence. I never would have pictured myself as you must see me now, a lonely woman with only a couple of cats to keep her company."
"So what happened?" the younger woman asked as the older woman turned back to hand her money to the cashier.
"Life doesn't happen the way that you plan it," the older woman said with a wry and wistful smile. "What I didn't know at your age is that none of the plans I made really mattered, except for my happiness. True, I may not live the life that I had pictured for myself 25 years ago... or the life that you must imagine for yourself. But that doesn't mean that I don't life a fulfilled life."
The older woman picked up her bag and took her change from the cashier. With a kind smile, she walked into the night.
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Great post lauren,
ReplyDelete"What I didn't know at your age is that none of the plans I made really mattered, except for my happiness."
----- That's it, it's all about happiness. I've been touting it for a looooong time. I live a life that creates joy, for me and those around me.
It's all one really has, as far as we know.
Hey!
ReplyDeleteWe could run, work, study, drink, do this, do that, but at the end of the day, life will always do it's share without your consent.
Thanks, Rocket. For me, this post is all about trying to get to that point where I'm happy with my life as it is today, despite the fact that not all of my "plans" have come to fruition. And I think that once I'm able to let go of the plans and the expectations, life will get even better and even happier.
ReplyDeleteDem, precisely! But I think we forget that sometimes. To an extent, we've gotten used to controlling everything else in our lives, so we forget that we just simply aren't in control all the time.
Danielle, an interesting perspective.
ReplyDeleteThis story can obviously be interpreted many ways. It could be about the older woman feeling the need to defend the choices she's made. It could be about the younger woman needing to redefine her vision of happiness.
This isn't a true story, not exactly anyway. A few weeks ago, I was behind a woman exactly like this in the grocery store. She was buying cat food, strawberries and milk; I was buying beer. I found myself thinking, "Wow, what a difference 25 years makes. I'm buying beer, I'm dressed all cute and I'm living this semi-fabulous life... she's dumpy and old and has her cats to keep her company." Then I found myself realizing that I was making a total judgement about this woman without knowing whether she was satisfied with her life; I just assumed she wasn't because it isn't the life that I would want at that age. That got me thinking about what she might say to me if we ever exchanged words beyond the casual head nod of strangers in a grocery store.
Lauren the idea of not giving up is what's important not if you reach it or not! For me, I take life with an ease, as rocket said, happiness with self is all we have and that's what one should always try to control.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful, sad and insightful story. As John Lennon once wrote: "Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans."
ReplyDelete