I am the Childless 50-something-year-old. As families sit down around their tables with their children and grandchildren, i.e. the family that exists because they exist, it’s easy to feel like the Odd (Old?) Woman Out. As an unmarried non-parent, you’d think I’d feel out of place at these gatherings. Society tells me I should. Because I don’t engender my gender. I chose a list of other options. Career, travel, moving lots of times to lots of places, in short having a life filled with unfamiliar experiences.
When I was in my twenties and thirties, I must confess that I did feel “odd” or needing to justify my life choices. But there are many reasons why my life went down that unconventional, adventurous road.
Some of them were under my control, but others were out of it: A body that wasn’t “built for babies” as they used to say. The bad luck of never finding a man who wholeheartedly wanted to be a Dad. And the truth is, if that stable home and family was what I truly wanted, perhaps I would have hung in there more until every matrimonial/procreational option had been exhausted. But I didn’t.
As this world changes, so has the definition of a family.
Not all of us grew up with that Norman Rockwell/Brady Bunch home as a model. I sure didn’t. But I’m thankful that I found a life of grace and wonder despite that.
And tomorrow, I will sit around a table of people who used to be called, “misfits” and “oddballs” and we will share a meal as a different kind of family. A Modern Family. And that’s fine with us. Let’s all just pray the stuffing turned out.
We all go through major life transitions when relationships end… Through this website, I will share my thoughts as I walk the path of “New-Self” discovery. It doesn’t matter which side of 50 you are on. The real question is, Are you ready to live life? To forge a Path of Your Own Making (For a change!)? Then stop dwelling over the What-Might-Have-Beens and join me. Share your thoughts here, comment on mine, and let’s do this together!