Aspire Magazine: Inspiration for a Woman's Soul.(TM) Feb/March 2018 Aspire Mag Full Issue: Inner Prospe | Page 52

Midlife Purpose Search:
You Are Not Alone
BY KELLY MCGRATH MARTINSEN
I
will let you in on a secret: Lately
I have found myself becoming teary
eyed whenever I pass the school
bus stop near my house. I have
been caught behind this same bus a
million times; usually I am annoyed
by it because I am late for something,
but recently I savor the stop. I watch
the same dimpled 5-year-old boy
and his mother waiting eagerly, and I
smile as the child anxiously releases
his parent’s hand and cautiously but
with excitement bounces on to the
bus. I become nostalgic as I think,
“This was my life not too long ago;
this was my child.” I am jealous of
this mother, who is not that much
younger than I am. Not jealous
because her 30-something-year-
old smile is devoid of wrinkles (well,
maybe a little☺)—the truth is I envy
her purpose.
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