Late Bloomer

I rarely think much about my past, but the last few days I have thought a lot about high school......not sure why.

Well maybe what triggered it, was being at a local high school this week as part of self-esteem program.

High school was not  the experience for me that it was for many that I know.......I was not a geek, not a cheerleader, not a beauty queen.....I often felt invisible.  I was stick thin, and often the brunt of skinny jokes, you know....turn side ways, stick out your tongue, you're a zipper. My high school counselor told me I would be a good housewife or maybe a secretary.  My family was very religious.....I never went to a movie, a ball game, I never wore make-up( that list could go on  for days).  The night of my graduation as those around cried and were sad, I was ecstatic because I knew my life was about to undergo major change.

Being at that local high school last week, I could tell that nothing much had changed.  Well the clothing, for sure....but the groups were all there.  The jocks, the geeks, the beauties, and the kids who were invisible.  One of the invisible girls talked with me for awhile, I told her she would graduate in a few short months, 

to walk out the door, never look back and live the life she was born to live.  It's hard to understand when you are a teenager about the concept of being a late bloomer.

I knew, even as a young teen that my life would get better and better as the years went by......I had never heard that phrase, late bloomer, but the first time I did hear it.......I totally understood it, because that was me.

I am glad that I was  a late bloomer, I am glad that my life did not peak in high school, I am glad that my "good old days" are the ones I am living now. 

Being a late bloomer gave me the confidence to choose paths I would never have tried.  I wished that I had had more than a few  minutes with that young girl, but she probably would not have believed much of what I told her.  I could see in her eyes, she had bought the goods that she had been sold by those around her.

Her eyes widened in shock when I told her , come graduation to walk out the door and not look back.  She was full of fear and sadness and resignation.

Being considered average, was good fuel for me......it pushed me to "bloom".  I don't know where it came from or how it was planted, but there was something always in my heart that told me I was different, and that it was ok to be different.  Blossoming later in life was the greatest thing that ever happened to me.  I learned to work on my talents,  to "package'" myself as well as I could,  to read, to listen, and never stop learning.

My "roots" were deep and well developed, I learned interesting and confident were great ways to be described.....and as the years went by, compassionate and kind were even better ways to be described.

I am glad I bloomed late, life has been magical because of it.