10 Best Accomplishment of the Past 40 Years (40th Birthday Preview Post 2)

Kate asked: "what are the 10 accomplishments (big or small) you are most proud of from your first 40 years?"

1. Becoming a Mother. Particularly realizing my dream of having fully unmedicated births (birth stories here). When I was a teenager I'd heard, mesmerized, the birth stories of two of my cousins in Curitiba (Monica and Vânia) who gave birth to their children naturally and in a crouching position* (each had two and they were all in my wedding) and I promised myself that I would deliver my children naturally someday and I did!!! Becoming a mother will always be my greatest accomplishment in life.

2. Getting a PhD. Writing a 500 page dissertation and finishing my PhD, even if after 10 years and 2 sons.

3. Meeting K and getting married to a  wonderful man who is the perfect person for me.

4. Learning English (beginning at age 15, I learned very quickly) and French (in grad school), a language I heard since I was a baby (more on that in a future post about my birth) and which my parents spoke to each other, so I knew some already and had always wanted o learn.

5. Traveling to the places I had most dreamed of visiting in my life. First, the U.S. trip with K's family in 1993 (I have to blog about this trip, I was reading my journal from it last Sunday), then going to France/Switzerland to study France for a summer in 1999 and in 2000 going on a fantastic month-long backpacking trip thorough 10 cities in Europe with K: Paris, Barcelona, Geneva, Florence, Rome, Venice, Salzburg, Munich, Berlin & Amsterdam; in 2001 we spent a week in London (I was 6 months pregnant). In 2003 we visited 7 National Parks in the American South and North West. Traveling is a passion that I inherited from my parents (that's one of my favorite posts in this blog).

6. Becoming an "accidental immigrant." This is the accomplishment that I have most mixed-feelings about, but I think I'm happy with my life as an expatriate in the United States. (sigh)

7. Helping, particularly cooking for people. In Brazil we had a group at the university and we did several weekend & long weekend retreats & I cooked for 3 to 50+ people for most of them. I mostly cooked by myself (i.e. I decided the menu, went shopping for all the food with a friend, then scheduled everyone in the group to help with each meal). I once worked for 11 hours straight cooking on a Friday and I didn't mind one bit. I really enjoy cooking for large groups (with a bit of help, of course). Here in the U.S. I also fed our campus group in MA for three years (lunch and or brunch and countless Friday night meals at our house) as well as always cooked and helped in the kitchen for the various churches we went to.

8. Blogging here and making all these marvelous blogging friends. It literally changed my life, Thank YOU so much!!! ;)

9. Becoming a teacher/ professor. First, in Brazil teaching language classes for children, then in graduate school, first as a T.A. and then instructor and now, adjunct teaching.

10. Being a caring, empathetic person/friend. Interacting with people is the thing that I most enjoy in life. In the long run nothing else matters, really, relationships are our greatest richness.Aat least that's how I feel about life. That's why blogging is so central to me & my life.

* you have no idea how uncommon unmedicated births are in Brazil, the land of the C-sections.