Everyone has a story. Some stories are inspirational, others are plagued with sadness. Some are happy and unicorn filled with blessings of good fortune, and others are full struggle and overcoming adversity. My story is somewhere between all of these and none of them. My story is completely unexciting, similar to hundreds of others, and yet uniquely mine.

Growing up on a small, gravel road in the middle of Hickville, Iowa gave me a lot of time to experience youth, family, and farmlands. I distinctly remember wanting to get the heck out of dodge at an early age, proclaiming to my parents just how  boring it was to live in little Ollie, Iowa. Fast forward a few decades and that tiny town of dust and homemade casseroles is the home of my heart. They say you don’t appreciate what you have until it is gone, and that rings true.

Although I have made my home outside of my original zip code, the green grassy flatlands, miles of endless corn stalks, and folks with a true heart of gold are the thread weaving me back to my childhood. Because all that I am, and all that I hope for my children was and forever will be there. 

My life involves the loss of a dear friend when I was just 6 years old. Learning about death at such a young age was a foreshadow of the acceptance of loss and grief that I would need to carry on. My life involves cancer, a nasty beast of a disease that washes pain ashore and gives no mercy to its’ subjects. My life involves meager blessings, of which I never knew to be lesser at the time, nor did I ever feel without. My life involves a love so great so that it is enough to last a lifetime. My life involves wanderlust, with amazing opportunity to travel to beautiful countries and appreciate all that is in this great world. My life involves children. Oh, my beautiful children. As a mom of three, I am infinitely blessed with three healthy beings who I am lucky to raise. Do I cherish all of the small moments as I should? No. I am in the thick of it and my season of parentings isn’t always pretty. 

There is more to me than is allowed in a 5-minute writing challenge, but I would love to share more with you! Subscribe and follow along, and please, please, PLEASE drop a comment and let me know you are here. I’d love to know your story. 

I have teamed up with a wonderful team of bloggers who participate in “Five Minute Friday.” Here’s the skinny: Every Friday for nearly four years hundreds of people joined a kind of writing flash mob. We write for five minutes flat. All on the same prompt. We connect on Twitter with the hashtag #FMFParty (It stands for Five Minute Friday Party). No extreme editing; no worrying about perfect grammar, font, or punctuation. Unscripted. Unedited. Real.

Join us this week for our #FMF prompt: Story