Who Am I?

The prompts this week at Mama Kat's were pretty tough - at least for me!  I looked at the list and groaned!  First of all, sharing one of my life stories might not be too hard to write, but hardly interesting fodder for others to read.  And then the next one...I don't even know what Pinterest is, so that one was out!  Next came the question - what were you like in high school?  Oh, no - don't even want to go there...too much angst!  The last one was "the one place in my life that I know better, but haven't been able to do better is..." and I definitely can't think about that at this point in my life - too scary!  So-o-o-o...that left prompt #4  which was to "share a photo that was taken of you, that you think really captures who you are".

I looked at the photos of me...some from high school (one of my very favorites, from my first date), then from my first prom, and some of me as a very young (and skinny) mom.  There were school photos, family photos, wedding photos, a photo of me receiving an award from work, one of my Dad and me in the garden from a newspaper article years ago on Father's Day, and a photo from the local newspaper taken for a Mother's Day article last year.  There were photos with my children, and my grandchildren, with nieces and nephews, with my sister, and with my brother; my uncle and me at the piano, Mom and me, choir director me, me behind the lens of the camera.  There was even a Glamour Shot, which I would LOVE to say was really me, but, alas, wasn't - just me with good hair and fabulous makeup and feathers - I loved the feathers!  They were all me...all the different faces of me...but none of them was REALLY me!

Then, I stumbled upon this photo, taken 2 years ago, while traveling the Blue Ridge Parkway, somewhere in North Carolina.  Something about this particular photo grabs me.  I am not sure if it is because, in this photo, I am NOT disgusted with the way I look, or if it is the pose, leaning on a sign that has the word "Lost" (is there a subliminal message there?), that makes me look like I am comfortable in my own skin and maybe up to something.  Whatever it is, this photo says "That's me!" in a way few others have ever said it.  Here are the facts about this photo:

I think I look pretty good in this photo.

I am obviously traveling somewhere, since this isn't home!

The weather is pleasant - October in the mountains.

I am happy, because I am smiling.

It was my Facebook profile photo for a long time!

So there you have it, the photo that captures the real me...relaxed, happy, mature, and traveling!  The only thing that would have made it complete would have been my camera around my neck!

Whew!  I didn't think I was going to get through this one!  Thanks, Mama Kat, for stretching me, once again!

Linking to Mama Kat's.