Truth...Stranger Than Fiction

Today is Damien's 15th birthday - the first of his 15 birthdays that I've not been with him, and it kinda hurts. Another sure sign that it is the end of an era. Fifteen years since Damien's birth, and so fourteen years with James. As if it's all coming full-circle, Life...the Universe itself...seems to have brought me to a pivotal ending and a pivotal beginning. I feel like I have crossed over...entered a new realm...and in several literal ways, I have: new degree & credentials, new job and new experiences with making financial decisions. New place to live. New furniture. New car. New responsibilities. New hopes and dreams...new passions. I was feeling as if I was getting a little bit closer to gaining some sense of resolve that, although my life has been tragic at times, in the end, I managed to pull it together and emerge as a more fully-cohesive me. Now it appears that there will be a potential twist in the story...an unforeseen fork in the road...and perhaps even a one-in-a-million opportunity to proceed mindfully, willfully, with insight and hindsight...and the conviction to support the weight of a thickening plot. I remind myself to not jump to conclusions, make assumptions, or get my hopes up too high. And yet, some would say there has been foreshadowing every step of the way. Some would say that Fate and Destiny are involved. And then I wondered: What exactly IS Fate? And what is Destiny?? It's "when it is all finished and you discover it wasn't random." Eventually everything connects and makes sense and while you "may not end up where you thought you were going," you realize that you will "always end up where you were meant to be." Apparently, there is a lot more to my story; it is important that I enter the next chapter of my life with trust because, after all, I am the author (at least to a large degree in terms of how I respond to Fate and Destiny). It seems we often meet our Fate on the road we take to avoid it - or so I've heard. "Yes there are two paths you can go by but in the long run, there's still time to change the road you're on." "And it makes me wonder..."