Who or What Would I Be?

I have been asked that many times and often I say, “I have no clue.”

But now, with this challenge, one I have thought over the last three days, I have come up with a small montage of who/what I would be. See, I like choices. If one doesn’t work out, I have alternatives to work from.

Let’s see:

A Butterfly. They evolve like a mystery, and become a thing of colored beauty. They harm no one and fly where they will. They are comforting, peaceful, and graceful.

FDR: Franklin Delano Roosevelt. I often wondered what it would be like in his shoes when he made the announcement that, “December 7, 1941, is a day that will live in infamy.” Immense pressure under daunting times. And on top of that, his daily struggles with Polio, at a time when there was no cure. Would I, could I, face such challenges so daring as he did, and still manage to come out on top. Could I have done what he did at a time when this country needed a strong leader and pull us out of a Depression? Hard questions, but he did that. I would like to say I could as well, but times today are far different from then.

A Scribe: This is rather a thought I have had for years, but to be a scribe during the years of Christ, and follow him, record his words and deeds. For me, that would be fulfilling. And I would want to ask Christ just one question: Did you know what would happen when you were a child?

My Mother: Strange perhaps, to want to be a woman, but she had an indomitable spirit, gumption and drive. She never saw any obstacle she couldn’t get past and she worked hard all her life. From the coal mines in Western, PA., to a riveter during WWII, to being a waitress for 35 years, as well as raising me (which was never an easy thing for her).

She instilled motivation, logic and drive in me, and my father, of which, if she hadn’t, he would have never lasted 40 years working for one company. She was tough but she had heart.

The only other person I would want to be is ... me. I have had my share of ups and downs. Quit school at 16. Entered the Marines at 17, saw a war, traveled the world, and the states here, fell in and out of love too many times to count but was really in love-love, twice. The second one, I married. As time moved on, she died and I went through some changes, but we all do, don’t we? My life has seen me as a teacher, a Chef, a salesman, and now, a hopeful writer. Retired and enjoying life. Yes, I’ll just be me. No one else has the memories I do.