Over the past year I have found out two pieces of information that have significantly changed my life forever. The first bit of news brings to end a dream that I have had for many years. The sad truth is that I learned that Oprah Winfrey is in her last season of production. Yes, folks, my longstanding hidden ambition was to write a book that would achieve such high acclaim that Harpo Industries itself would not be able to bypass having me on the most prestigious of all day time television shows. For years, I have reveled in the anticipation of this day. Will Oprah do the “ugly cry” over the things I say? How many times will her viewers break out into applause over my words of wisdom? What will it sounds like to hear Ms. Winfrey herself say my one syllable last name in her remarkable two syllable way. But alas in all of my basking in the Oprah sunlight I failed to do one thing- write my book. Oh, I thought about it- that’s for dang sure. I imagined what previously undisclosed stories from my life would make Oprah the most hysterical or that she would feel the most profound; however ideas never met paper and pen to produce a book. So I will, like most of Americans, never realize my longstanding dream of gracing Oprah with my presence and allowing her and her viewers to be impacted by my words of wisdom. A dream deferred.
The second event that has significantly changed my life- and by far more lifechanging was the news that I was expecting mine and my husband’s first baby. No matter how much I longed for the day and thought about what it would be like, I never imagined that it would be as real as it is now. To know that in three months our family will not just be a him and a her, but we will actually be a little family is surreal. Almost like imagining walking out onto Oprah’s stage and being invited to sit on the esteemed “Oprah couch”- I dreamed about it, but I never thought it would really be real. Even more surreal is that the person I am today is going to be a Mommy. I always thought of Moms as having so much more wisdom- having it all figured out- as though you have to pass some kind of certification to be allowed to “try.” But I found out that it doesn’t work that way. ANYONE can have a baby- I mean anyone- from the smartest of the smart to the most ridiculously stupid of the stupid. And somewhere in the range falls me. I would like to think that I range a little more on the smarter side, but some days, I am really not sure. But nevertheless, God has chosen to bless my husband and I with one of the most rich blessings that a person can ever receive.
Ergo, I decided to accept my status as a non-Oprah enlightening member of the human race and accept my fate as just an “every woman” in life. However I still have thoughts that I feel that Oprah could at least chuckle at- so I will do the next best thing to writing a book and appearing on her show- I will blog!!! And with every strike of my keyboard, I will write with as much zest and enthusiasm as I can, knowing that I once gave up on a dream and I dare not do it again. Amy Adams would be so proud!
So in three months, whether I’m ready or not, a new little life is going to be brought into my world, of which I will have the most cherished honor of raising. And for those that dare to type in the web address www.polkadotsoapbox.blogspot.com, you will have the…er…privilege? of getting to read about my days of minutia, my mundane thoughts and the experiences that everyone woman who has even been pregnant or had a child has also had…but in an original way all of my own.
