Life's Persistant Questions

B. and I stole away to one of our early bird weekday dinner dates recently (cuz we’re just that cool).  I love these dates.  Our schedules with work and school virtually eliminate any semblance of a weekend, so we take time together when we can, and I’ve learned to savor the relative calm and ease of getting food early during unusual restaurant hours.  

Over our nutritious meal of BBQ burger, fried chicken tenders, and fries we started talking about where we are in life, where we’ve been, what plans we have and how they always seem to be changing, just taking inventory on each other.

I sat there as B. watched basketball and nibbled at her fried poultry

and just drank her in. 

This happens every once in a while, where I just have to stop and breathe in everything she is.  She caught me staring and elbowed me with a wry grin, and we began talking again about the future. 

Are we in the right majors?  Will our careers have anything remotely to do with what were studying now?  Where will we live after we graduate?  Are we going to travel?  When?  How will we pay for it?  What will our first out-of-college jobs be?  Is she going to grad school?  Where?  Studying what?  Will I make it in the competitive market of commercial art/design?  Will a career in illustration be enough, not just financially, but personally - will I want to do more than just doodle for money?  Am I meant to do something more meaningful or essential to society?  Should I consider law school?  Would I be happy with that in the long run? Do we dare entertain the thought of attending grad school and law school simultaneously?  Will kids work into that picture?  How?  When?  Will we be good parents?  Will we be able to provide for our family?

...

Even now, as we near the end of our undergraduate studies, we don’t have all the answers. 

And we realized, that’s okay.


So I stole some of her chicken and we went back to our basketball commentary.

We can still be uncertain about the future; we don’t have to have a fixed idea on what we want.  Life has its curveballs and we’ve got to roll with the punches (insert other sports themed cliché here)

I guess I’ve had this attitude for a while, but what made this conversation so novel was that we both felt not only begrudgingly accepting, but happy about it.  Really, truly happy to have a lot of questions – together.

Here’s to not having all the answers! 


May we all have someone with which to bask in life’s unpredictability.

In the meantime, just have a burger and enjoy the chaos.


S