Success?

What does success mean to you? This is an important question.

Some people think of fame. A lot of people know who you are. Hopefully more love you than do not.

Is it education? The more you know the more successful you feel.

Power. Some long for control over people or businesses. They are the final link in the chain.

Does a lot of money mean we are successful? Some think so.

Maybe you are successful if you have a career you enjoy. It might even be what you always wanted to be.

Maybe you have a different idea of success.

A few years ago my son and I were just sitting around talking the way family members do. I mentioned that I was sorry that I had not prepared myself better to give them a better life and myself a more secure future.

My son asked me what I had wanted to be when I was younger. I searched my mind. There were those fleeting and basically childish dreams. I would be in a group like the Lennon Sisters. I would be the next Hayley Mills. I would marry Ricky Nelson (his wife would not mind). I would go to college and decide then what I would be. I would be a physical therapist. There were so many.

Needless to say I was not a Lennon Sister,,, I cannot sing. Hayley Mills was not threatened by my desire to emulate her. Alas Ricky Nelson's wife was unreasonable so I did not become Mrs. Nelson. I did not make it to college until after I married and had four children. I realized that physical therapy was not for me.

There were many other short-lived dreams. None of them were serious either.

After much thought I told my son the only thing I had always wanted to be was a mother. I do not ever remember a time that I did not want to have my own children.

Of course I knew that in order to have children I would need a husband. A husband was not my priority.

I had a sister-in-law who lived to get a husband and keep him. For me what I really wanted was a father for my children.

My son simply looked at me and said, Then you are a success." I guess I am.