My goal was, simply, to be normal.

Married with children,
then easing into retirement
and grandparenting.

Traveling now and then
to some interesting
or exotic place.

A well-kept home,
shaded and landscaped.
A well-lived life,
safe, loved, satisfied.

But I have learned
that vision of life is not normal, at all.

Life is uncertain, messy,
sometimes cruel.
Life is joy and sorrow,
triumph and failure,
anxiety and peace.

Life doesn’t settle for normal.