I am 27 years beyond 20. It's difficult to remember myself at that age. Time has a way of smoothing rough pavement, connecting day to scar to open book. When I look back, I see a young woman in transition, moving from childhood to adulthood, the way I move from adulthood to crone now. I can speak another language, can play banjo. I can do so many more things today than I could at 20. If I look at the knowledge I've collected, the facts and figures, honesty, none of it matters. There is only one thing I can say that I know for sure, one thing that makes a difference to me today. If I could go back in time and leave a written message for that 20-year-old woman, it would say this: Dear Birdie,
The sun rises every day. Never forget.
Love,
Someone who cares
I feel as if I'm in that transitional phase, but no one else around me is. Every other 20 year old seems to have themselves figured out. Now, if that's naive of them, I don't know. One way or another, it's lonely.