Winding down the last weeks of a student teaching internship, applying for jobs, talking with future hubby about him moving in with me, living very cheaply and lightly (not many possessions weighing me down), not a care in the world.
It was a fabulous time.
The path since then has been wonderful, and unexpected. If I had tried to predict the places we would live, the careers we would have, the family we have created… I would have been laughably innacurate.
Freshman in college, delighted to be out of my tiny tiny town. Happy with my friends, especially the really nice guy who lived next to the guy I was interested in. “Interested in” married my roommate. “Really nice” married me! And all 4 of us are pretty happy and delighted with the results
I was finishing up my Education degree in grad school only to learn I could not get certified to teach because I had never done a formal student teaching program. Despite letters from teachers, principals, and the Dean at my grad school, the Mass Education Dept told me to move on.
So I moved on to Upstate NY where the local teachers college told me they needed two years of my money before I would student teach. A catholic school offered to hire me to teach science for $8,000 which turned out to be $17,000 less than I would make selling insurance.
“Welcome To The Machine”
I was finishing my second year in law school, getting ready to head to NYC to work as a summer associate. Being from small town western New York, I remember it to be a very exciting yet terrifying time in my life.
I was working as an Assistant District Attorney in a major metro area. I had been married for a few years, no kids yet. Life was good. 
I was a Sophomore in highschool and I just met my first boyfriend.
Congrats, VaBluebird. The wife did all three births (starting in 1994) with no drugs and no issues, a mixture of luck and good, strong German peasant stock.
In 1980 I was a 5’6" 115lb HS junior with a face full of acne, nerdy and unpopular, not a real happy time in my life. Most of my friends matured earlier, were into beer, pot, and girls. No dates, no school dances, not invited to any parties, I sat in my room and read science fiction. Luckily I was a late bloomer and things got much better as I aged.
I was in grad business school. Married a year and a half.I thought we had the world by the tail.
I was finishing my sophomore year in college, depressed about an injury that ended my college athletic career, but ecstatic with my new major, and planning a summer trip to visit my boyfriend, whom everyone, myself included, incorrectly thought was “the One”.
What a wonderfully varied and interesting group we are.
I was still in college.
I was just a few days away from turning 20 and kept thinking about the Neil Young song that goes “You can’t be 20 on Sugar Mountain” and feeling old. :))
I was finishing up sophomore year of college and not happy about the prospect of leaving my new boyfriend for the summer (who ended up three years later not being The One and moving to Antarctica on a scientific expedition, so at least I could say he went to the ends of the earth to get away from me). My grandfather had moved into my bedroom at home and I wasn’t thrilled about sharing with my little sister all summer after having a roommate all year at school.
We got married 35 years ago last December…and right about now we bought our first house. Wow…long time ago
Near the end of my first year of residency 35 years ago. Do not remember the rotation but either off service or my specialty. 40 years ago I was a college senior. Where has all the time gone??? Only need to reflect and realize there are TONS of memories/experiences.
Last semester of college. Was planning a backpacking trip with Eurail pass around Europe for the summer and set to start a PhD program in the fall.
Graduated from college, got married and both of us were working (in another country.) We even lived in a house we owned (NOT bought with our own money!) We thought we were quite happy with our dual-income-no-kid lives at that time (not having much savings in the bank though.)
However, never did we know at that time that, in a few years, we would uproot ourselves, came to US and started our lives “with only 4 luggages” all over again. I think it took us about 11 years (and after having moved half a dozen times in 3 states) before we bought our first house again (the deposit was earned by us this time.) I think after we had bought our first house (which we sold in only 6 years in order to move into a “better” school district) we moved 5 times again.
35 years ago : in my first year of grad school and married two years, out of undergrad for over three years. Did some very part-time consulting in my field as grad program was full time. Enjoyable phase all around.
Senior in college. Job offers trickling in. (I was a math/comp sci major and it was a golden place to be Might even have been on our jazz band tour of New England. Liked the Boston area so much that I moved here and haven’t left since!
I think I was living in Santa Fe, NM. What a beautiful place.
I too had a 9 month plus 3 week baby. He never dropped and I labored and pushed all night. Finally, they had to do a C-section. My dear S was perfectly happy being tethered to a feeding tube in a warm comfortable environment. He was in no rush to go anywhere.
His personality has been the same since they cut him out. He is always late, and very laid back. He is really not motivated to do much. If he could be tethered to a feeding tube and play video games all day, he would be ok.
I had 2 additional C- sections. Ugh!
But - you got to have 3 kids. Some of us are lucky enough to have one. Mine was a premie (and I knew too much as a physician who rotated through a lot pediatrics including neonatology during an anesthesiology residency so could be more worried). I was still a decade away from motherhood back then.