When I am an old woman:

In about 30 years, as an old lady, I will still talk to myself. This what I might say:

“You worked hard to be a licensed psychologist. You were just starting your career when your friends were starting to retire, some to their second homes. Even though you really liked living in that apartment in Edison, sometimes it made you sad that you didn't own any home. You got to be a newlywed with Ken and the two of you created a wonderful space. Remember your second anniversary and you asked Ken for a portable washing machine for the apartment? Wasn’t it funny that something you thought you hated turned into something you wanted? You had a thing about laundry ever since your mother folded the laundry in the living room in the house on Madie Avenue.

That was in the early 60’s, and a lot of people had televisions in their living rooms. Nice living rooms, with TV’s inside in a piece of furniture; and wives like Laura Petri wore lipstick and dresses. You knew this because you saw it on TV, on a colored TV. Yes, you watched black and white TV shows on a colored TV. And when you asked why your family’s TV was orange, not wood, they told you it’s NOT orange, Beth, it’s coral. Coral? Why does our cousin, Coral, have a TV? And why is her TV in our house?

It was that portable TV on a brass stand that started the laundry problem. Before that, the laundry stayed out of sight, where it belonged. When you were 6 years old, you knew you wore clothes, put them in the hamper, or took them out of the drawers. They weren’t supposed to be in piles on the back of the sofa. It looked too messy. You decided then to dislike laundry, or at least having to fold it.

And remember after Kim was born? Every morning, as soon as Neil went into the shower, you ran down two flights of stairs to the basement – to ping-pong table where you stored ALL of the clean laundry. Got a tee shirt, briefs, and a pair of socks, ran back up stairs, and laid them on the bed. You thought Neil never knew his drawers were empty; he was happy you were finally acting the way a wife should, and you were just happy because you weren’t folding.

Your second anniversary was a good lesson in dreams; dreams can come true, change or end. If they didn't, where would your new dreams go?