Cathy Crimmins, in Where is the Mango Princess, talks about her life being divided into Before (the accident causing her husband’s TBI) and After. I think many Americans today divide time into Before 9/11 and After 9/11.
As a mom, I find that I frequently provide myself with a timeline by looking at my pregnancies and the births of my children. Trip to Arizona? Pregnant with Jessica. Trip to England? Pregnant with Bryson. Temporary living assignment in California? Pregnant with Ben. Working at Franklin Square Hospital Center? Pregnant with Joshua. This helps me figure out the years in which other events took place during that time, too. Likewise, I gauge the passage of time with the infancies of my children. I can more readily picture scenes of my life (and the people in them) than I can recall dates and times. By looking at the ages of the children in the recalled scenes, I can make a pretty good estimate of dates.
What about you–do you have significant Before and After events in your life?
Categories: Reading
Let’s see. One of the big life punctuation marks for me is Mike’s appearance in my life. In fact, we sometimes refer to “pre-Mike” and “pre-Jen” events and things. Someone tried to buy Mike’s canoe a couple of years ago, but there was no way he was going to part with his beloved pre-Jen canoe, no matter how little use it gets.
Another big one here is pre-house and post-house. That was a big life- and lifestyle-altering event for us. We existed for almost twenty years without a place of our own, house, condo, or apartment.
Huh. I think maybe I have fewer Before/After life punctuation marks than many people. While I have many small changes in my life, I don’t think I have many big ones.