When my oldest daughter was around 7, we lived in a 1920’s airplane bungalow. The girls’ bedroom was upstairs off of the kitchen. Standing at the kitchen sink, I could hear Jill talking to someone in her bedroom and knew she was by herself.
I was not surprised; when she was younger she would talk to her imaginary friends Polly Esther and Dac Ron while playing with material scraps under my sewing table.
As she came down the stairs into the kitchen, I saw she was dressed up in her best clothes with matching shoes.
“Well hello, who are we today?” I asked.
“Jill” she replied in the ‘exasperated by mother’ tone. You know the one.
“Are you going out?” I asked.
“Yes, I am a lawyer judge and I am going on a date with my lawyer friend.”
“Well have fun”, I managed to say.
As she moved off to continue her play, I went back to the kitchen sink, a smile on my face, thinking maybe we were heading in the right direction. She was obviously graduated from college, in a career and she was still just dating. I remember thinking we would have the ethics talk regarding which lawyers judges ought to date another time.
I shared this story today at the Aurora Regional Chamber of Commerce Women in Leadership Series luncheon. My topic was Women Leader Transitions. I spoke on my leadership journey. During my journey I was always wondering if I was doing the correct thing at the right time. The girls kept me grounded in the present while I was preparing for the future.
Every once in a while I think of Polly and Dac. I miss them………..
©2011 Susan Kendall. All rights reserved
