I have two daughters. For most of their lives I have been of the opinion that the two of them were as different as night and day. The older one, Rebecca, has dark, extremely curly hair. She is an artist. She was the kid no one liked in school because she could flip through a book and know everything in it. She never had to study but always made the all A Honor Roll. She went to college on a full four-year academic scholarship. She graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Painting and Sculpture. She is 33 years old and has never married.
Emily, the younger one, has brown wavy hair. She is a surgery scheduler for a pediatric ear, nose, and throat doctor. She made good grades, but she had to study hard and work for every A she got. She moved in with her boyfriend, who is now her husband of 15 years, the summer between her junior and senior years of high school. She worked her way through college, and paid for it with the Georgia Hope Scholarship and student loans. She graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Biology.
When you look at the facts, you would certainly think that the two of them are different. But, this past year, I have discovered that they really are more alike then they think. The things in life that are important to them are the same. They each want a family who loves them, to be respected by their co-workers and friends, and to be happy in their work. They both love me, even though they may show it different ways.
Another way in which they are alike is that they both have a love for books and reading. Both of them gave me books last month. Both of them were on subjects that I really needed to read.
“Making A Living Without A Job” by Barbara Winter was from Rebecca. It is a wonderful inspiration, with testimonials and illustrative stories of women and men who have pondered their talents, devised a plan, and gone into self-employment to change their lives for the better. It is about earning a living doing something you enjoy doing.
Emily’s gift was “Choosing Forgiveness” by Nancy Leigh DeMoss. Subtitled “Your Journey to Freedom”, it is a very good read and was very helpful to me in my life at the point I received it. The author writes about how when you hold on to your anger and hurts that others have piled on you, then you give that other person power over you to keep you imprisoned by those emotions. Only by letting go of the issues, forgiving others, and asking for forgiveness of the people you have wronged, can you let yourself out of that prison and truly be free. It opened my eyes and my heart so much.
Rebecca is job hunting at the moment. She was an art teacher at a private school but left there last spring to pursue promoting her own artwork. Emily is also job hunting. She has decided to change careers, and has taken the exam to become a middle school science teacher. So even in their sameness in being teachers, they are so very different in the subjects they teach. I wish them both good luck in their chosen paths, and hope we can get together very soon. I miss them both very much.
