That Yellow Brick Road...

I always notice where the grass is greener. I remember as a kid wondering how it felt to be that happy woman. The one who you see at the store giggling with her kids and hugging her spouse. I wondered how or what she had done to have such a simple life. Back then I felt my family always had some drama or another, one hard time after the next. Not that we aren't blessed in the love and closeness we have, but it has come with a price perhaps. I longed for something simpler; perhaps we all still do. I saw the grass much greener walking in her shoes. It is just so easy to see perfection in a moment. No past, no future, just that minute of existence.

Now I walk in my own grass, that same grass I landed so gracefully in when I jumped off the pedestal. I try to find that same rich emerald shimmer here as I have seen beneath others fancy heels. Too often I find that I'm still in the dead of winter, with just a few fresh blades growing in under my ragged running shoes. I haven't given up hope though. And this certainly isn't a pity party. I know that winter ends and spring comes.  I have grown to know that their steps suffer through the shades of the seasons too. Most of all, I am glad to have my husbands weathered shoes beside mine despite the terrain.

I do find strength in knowing that life isn't one moment. All the moments and all the seasons combine to make us who we are. Even Dorothy had to walk on a urine colored road to get to the shiny green fields of Emerald City. Lucky for her she had a few friends to lean on... even in the shades of gray.

~To Oz,
Beth