Blindfolded and Disoriented

While attending birthday parties as a little girl we often played the game Pin the Tail on the Donkey. It required that we be blindfolded, spun around many times and then faced in the right direction to make our best effort to place the tail of the donkey on the tail-less donkey in front of us. I remember thinking that the spinning around took too much time and left me confused about where I was and where exactly I was to go. I guess that was the point of why they spun you around so much; to disorient you.

I have been spun around many times since then only to pull off my blindfold and find that I am lost and disoriented more than I would like to admit.

One spin and I was old enough to marry a boy...and in hindsight he really was just a boy! Manhood set in at about age 40.

Two spins and with a quick peek out from under my blindfold, I was shocked to find out that I was raising a family even though I still felt like a teenager. Was this game ever gonna end?

Three spins and all of a sudden I realized that I could let my children leave home and be happy for them. People began calling me Ma'am at the grocery store. I fearfully put the blindfold back on to continue in the game.

I think I am beginning spin four and it seems the game has changed to Musical Chairs. Now I am facing the truth that I will soon have a son on a mission and my youngest daughter in high school. The chairs keep getting pulled away and the people that used to fill them are out of the game. Now a new game of Farmer in the Dell is being set up and will soon leave me as the cheese that stands alone.

The spins and twists, unexpected changes and the swiftness of life have left me wondering, just as in the games of my youth, if I am headed in the right direction and why do I feel so dizzy and disoriented every time I open my eyes.