Culture

She grew up a child of parents who were always scraping by. One year, her mom had to cash in the savings bonds that her grandpa had given her every birthday, just so she would have some new school clothes that fall. There was never extra money for things like art lessons, trips to the museum, or to go see the newest Disney movie. The only thing her mom did seem to find money for was organ lessons. She hated the organ.

Maybe if she had had the opportunity to explore some of the interests she actually had, she would have figured out she loved photography much earlier than her late 30's. She might have even have gone to college for it, instead of getting married at eighteen. How different her life might have been if her parents had only invested in it a little.

Now a woman of means, she invests in herself. Photography classes, a yearly membership to the botanic and sculpture garden, and her newest acquisition a yearly membership to the art museum. She can't change her past but she can change her future.