Quinceanera

The teen years are one of the most tumultuous times in any young girl or boy’s  life. It is a time of great changes, and  socialization. It is a period when the seeds of greatness are planted and harvested through our endeavors in education.

For me, although it was the best of times and the worst of times, the one age I often look back with a bit of fondness is the 15th year of my life. Back then, academically I was probably viewed as a genius because I was about to begin college.

The world was my oyster and possibilities seemed infinite. It was an era when I felt my life was just beginning. I was optimistic and filled with promise and joie de vivre. Between my fourteenth and fifteenth birthday I felt like the Belle of the ball.

It was my coming out of sorts, with Ring Night in my Junior year and The Prom in my senior year, I felt as if the foundation for magnificent things had been set in motion. In those days I demanded the best, got the best and felt certain life would reciprocate in return.

It were my pre-drama days when my disorderly relationship with my adoptive parents had not become the subject of the family grapevine and I had not been banished to Coventry.

The Spanish call the fifteenth year of a young woman’s life the “Quinceanara” because it is celebrated with a huge party reminiscent of a coming out Ball. I guess in some ways my smidgeon of Hispanic heritage played out in grand form.

I was young, green and innocent, but even then, I knew what I wanted out of life. Although it was a time of ill-health for me, I persevered and was able to enjoy and bask in my youth to a certain degree.

At the time I did not know that life would have taken an awkward turn. Even at an early age I learned to take living in strides. The bible tells us that life can be a double edged sword filled with joy and sorrow simultaneously. Therefore, during the most chaotic time of my existence I learned when things are going well never to get overconfident and taken in with rejoicing because on the other side of mirth, there is just the opposite lurking to douse my spirits.

Being prudent and well grounded have caused me not to believe my own publicity even when I am on a winning streak. Life is tricky like that. Just when you think you have it all figured out, there is a 360 degree shift that changes everything.