Paying My Respects

My Dear 20's, Now that our journey together has come to an end, I'd like to thank you for the past 9 years of service. To thank you for the beautiful memories of giving birth to my precious daughter, buying my first home and my first really new car, earning a college degree and then another and then another. Of marrying a husband and divorcing him before marrying another husband and divorcing him, too, which has given me some deep insight into my own faults and my own strengths. Thank you for teaching me about the simple joys of a handwritten letter, of extra-thick carpet padding, of a homegrown tomato, of a balanced household budget, and of a really decent crossword puzzle book. Many thanks for the flawless complexion and extreme flexibility, and for being unashamed when I blamed my irresponsible actions on you (though I do wish you would have prohibited the tattoos). I am grateful to you for understanding that the person I was hoping to become had to break through the shell of the person I was pretending to be, and for knowing all along that I would come of age in a beautiful manner. I thank you for a career of which I'm very proud, for friends who overlook my sarcasm and embrace my quirkiness, for creativity I didn't even know existed inside me. Most deeply, I thank you for saving me from the end of my teens - those last two years almost certainly killed me, and I truly believe I would have died had it not been for my daughter. My precious daughter. The sweetest piece of my soul that came at the onset of my 20's. However did you know that she would change me in so many ways? My gratitude is deeper than the oceans and my love for you, sweet 20's, will never fade. However, it's time for us to part ways, as I have a date with my 30's. A date with fuller hips and many more laugh lines, with greater wisdom and fewer hangovers. With a woman who will undoubtedly surprise and delight me. With a woman who will take more risks, but make fewer bad decisions. With a woman who will enjoy the next nine years and secretly long to peek over the fence into the backyard of the 40's because she'll understand that aging is one of life's most beautiful experiences. And so I bequeath you to some other young, nimble, naive woman who is trying to figure out her purpose in this world. Please give her my love and let her know that she'll come out fine on the other side. I wish I could meet her, but it's time for me to move on. With love and gratitude, Mary Ann