I stepped gingerly across the slick wet rocks, boots in hand, the small stream gleaming. There was something important about getting to the other side without falling in. I placed my foot on the next rock and felt the firm, sudden sting in the ball of my foot. Sharp intake of breath, a sudden jerk, a small yelp. I plunged my foot into the cold water and waded to shore where I sat on the edge of the stream examining my foot in wonder. Stung at last.
When I was a kid bee stings seemed to happen to everyone but me. Bees buzzed lazily in the woods behind my best friend’s house where we played spin the bottle, around the massive garbage bins behind the middle school, by the pool snack shack. Everyone had a bee sting war story: a bee swallowed while zooming downhill on a bike, a hand swollen to the size of a golf ball, a sister who got stung in the eye!
I’d stand in the casual circle of tweens, dripping in my red Speedo, hair slicked back, breaking off bits of a frozen Charleston Chew. I faked my way into the group as if I was just like everyone else. I laughed when the others did as if I knew from a bee sting with the throbbing, the pinkish, raised bump, the way you had to make sure the stinger wasn’t lodged under your skin. If you were allergic you’d find out fast enough, break out into hives or go into anaphylactic shock. Getting stung by a bee was a rite of childhood that wasn’t mine, a story I couldn’t tell.
My first and only sting in the stream happened in my mid-20s. This hike in the woods was a semi-date with a boy I wouldn’t end up marrying. Image was everything. That hike turned into crossing the stream, barefoot, in search of a lunch spot, a place to loll, maybe a flirty conversation. Instead I ended up sitting in a half lotus on the muddy bank cradling my stung foot. I could see the tiny pinprick where the stinger had gone in. It hurt more than I imagined or let on – deeper and all mine.
There are some events that defy description. You can’t really understand them until they happen to you. Some of them are known and knife-sharp – a miscarriage, a death, even a bee sting – while others are slower in coming, undefined and amorphous until you notice them swirling curiously at your feet like a tattered plastic bag caught in a sudden summer wind. This is what midlife feels like. At some point between loading the dishwasher and paying the taxes, renovating the kitchen and explaining polynomials to my 12-year-old, I turned 46. Now it’s as if the word “midlife” is sewn into the label of my favorite jeans; it’s plastered across my jar of all-natural, skin plumping face cream; it pops up on Google maps when I look up the directions to that trendy new restaurant in the city.
People keep talking about “the second half of life” as if I’m supposed to be done with the first half. I do not feel done with anything. Must the place where I am now, sitting at the kitchen counter, the children asleep, the bananas turning brown in the fruit bowl, be the fulcrum? One step forward and the time I have left is forever less than the time I’ve already spent. How can we know? I am a self-professed late bloomer, stung by a bee for the first time in my 20s. Who knows what other firsts lay in wait for me, what other stories I have to tell.
No one ever mentions the bee post-sting in their tales, how they lay there twitching, lamely buzzing, no chance of a second half. That day by the river, I vaguely remembered that bees don’t survive once they’ve stung someone. I hopped up with boot in hand, waded back out to the rock and quickly crushed the dying thing, sweeping the remains out into the stream.
This is a Finish the Sentence Friday post inspired by the prompt, “I wonder…” Hosted by Kristi from Finding Ninee, and co-hosted by Kerri of (Un)Diagnosed and still ok and Jill from Ripped Jeans & Bifocals.
Special thanks to Jena Schwartz for the original prompt that started this post, “Tell me about bees.” If you’re looking for a brilliant space to write, share and be amazed, try one of Jena’s online writing groups.
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I have no idea what polynomials are, but I totally get this. I’m still not sure when i stepped over the threshold into “adulthood.”
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I still wonder myself if I’m not still stepping into it again and again. Always growing up I suppose.
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Today is an emotional day, but I am here in tears, Lisa. Written beautifully with such heart and depth of experience.
I’m touched.
Truly.
Under the same sky,
Dani
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So much gratitude to you Dani for your sweet words always. Xx
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I am 48 and I feel I still have many firsts to experience. My first bee sting happened when I was 8. I sat on a bee that was probably dead but it’s stinger wasn’t. Ouch. I love this whole post.
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Thanks Jill. I’m learning that midlife is full of firsts. Sorry about that butt sting…!
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I love the idea that there are many more firsts to come in the second half of my life. And now I’m a bit sad that I don’t remember my first bee sting.
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Loved the whole post. Beautiful. And this: ” I do not feel done with anything.” 😉 Yes. I’m right there with you.
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Thank you Sarah. I feel like I’ll never be done…!
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Thank You for a different perspective on “mid life”. I will begin looking for more firsts 🙂 It makes it sound much more fun.
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Lisa, I’m happy that you joined Jena’s group! Isn’t it a powerful experience? I loved it. This story is beautifully told and I can relate perfectly (I’m 46) – I don’t feel done with the yesterdays yet, either. I’m so glad you shared this with FTSF. Gorgeous!
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Jena’s group is really amazing. I’m signed up for another one in May. Thanks for your sweet words here 🙂
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So beautiful Lisa. Who knows what other firsts lay ahead indeed.
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I feel like we’re on the same wave length a little Dana – I just read your post and felt so connected to all those thoughts and feelings you expressed. Good to be with you in this space.
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I think your post percolated in my brain and helped me write mine 🙂
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That makes me happy 🙂
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O U C H. Felt that sting as sure as if it was me. I can count the times I’ve been stung on one hand. It hurts like a bugger, no?
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It hurt like crazy! And for days afterword too.
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I just love, love, LOVE your descriptions and how you write. I want to read about your firsts as they happen. BEAUTIFUL 😀
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Thank you so much Lizzi. Your words mean a lot ❤
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You do write beautifully, beautifully. And this got me thinking about all the rites of passage I’ve missed in life. There’s time.
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This was a beautiful rendition on life although it started with a bee sting. I realize the sting can be very painful, and I hope you got it treated.
xoxo
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Thank you so much. It was pretty painful! Thankfully it didn’t last long. My middle daughter is deathly afraid of bees and has been stung twice. Each time the swelling seems to last a little long. I don’t think she’s allergic, just sensitive.
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Here’s to so many more firsts, and so many more stories.
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Thank you Jena. Hoping to write about more of them with you!
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Yes!
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