Twenty years! Wowza! I bet you feel pretty grown up now. I remember when I was twenty I had just gotten my driver’s license. I was doing plays at the local community college and waiting for someone to tell me I was a grown up. I know that probably sounds strange. But, I just thought that someone would announce it one day and from that day on…I’d make my own decisions. That day actually came a few years later. No one had said anything – so I realized if I wanted to do something in life (something that maybe others might not agree with) I’d have to make THAT decision and start following through with it. I decided that I REALLY wanted to have a close relationship with God. And to that end, I decided to convert to Judaism. I wasn’t sure how Grandma and Grandpa would handle it. I was very scared to tell them about it. But I finally worked up the courage and told them. Grandpa was very understanding, “At least you picked the most rational of the religions!” he said. Grandma was more uncomfortable. But that was something Grandma had to come to terms with. I was NOT changing my mind to please her. This was MY journey. Later, I also decided to get a student loan for $15,000 to finish college. That was huge too as I knew if I defaulted, there was no one to blame but me.

We all have a moment (or many – if you are lucky) where you must decide what is most important to you and then go after that. YOU CANNOT MAKE EVERYONE HAPPY! If you try, you will tear yourself apart. I know this will sound selfish but YOU must see to YOUR happiness first. If others do not like your choices, that is THEIR issue. Not yours.

Ok, I’ll get off my soapbox now. Happy Bday sweet gal! Oh, and by the way, that is Grandma and I singing “Happy Birthday to You” in that story I wrote you. If you have not found it on the website, the story is called “Out of This World Birthday: Part Alpha.” Try typing in the words “space station” into the search bar on the website. The video can also be seen on from my Prudence Scattergoode YouTube channel. Or…I can just paste it here: