She sat near the open window in the local restaurant. Her family had come to visit her at the community home for the routine Sunday lunch. The breeze coming from the lake feathered her white hair. Her body ached as it sat in the wheeled chair. She turned her head. Her fading eyes focused on a young girl at a nearby table. Her thoughts were almost drowned out by the immense chatter from the crowd. The girl sat with her parents and a young boy. She watched the girl. How she would laugh and tell stories, then drift from the conversation and melt into her own thoughts. The woman thought about the girl. What her life must be. Where she goes to school. How she met the nice looking young man next to her. She watched as the girl laughed and moved freely. She told stories that had the table laughing with her. She smiled at the boy next to her. Her eyes lit when he spoke. The woman wondered what he was saying to make the young girl glow. The girl, propped up on one arm, locked eyes with the woman. The woman smiled it her and gave a quick wink. The girl smiled back and returned to her conversation. The woman turned back to the window. She remembered her time as a young girl, not crippled and wheelchair bound. Not old and grey, but beautiful and lively. She remembered when she would bring boys home to meet her parents. She remembered her first kiss. The first time she held hands with a boy. The first time she smiled at a boy the way the young girl at the table had been. She thought of her first breakup. The one that crushed her so bad that she didn’t come out of her room for a week. She layed in bed with tears dried to her cheeks. Her body hurt from crying and missing that person so much. She remembered the times where she would open up after being hurt so bad. She remembered the first time she fell in love and how she had to fight for what she wanted because her love didn’t belong solely to her. She remembered the days where she would run through the streets laughing with her girlfriends and the evenings she would reserve for ice cream or bonfire dates with a special boy. Her person. Oh, how she missed him. She missed their late night phone calls, talking about favorite foods and parents and their future. Both knew that their futures would be different, but they dreamed together of a peaceful time when they would live in the small, white cottage on the top of the hill. She recognized that she was lucky because he had come back to her. Her wedding day with the large bouquets of sunflowers and the flowing veil that rested on her curled hair. Her father’s tears as he gave her away. She could feel her heart sting a little bit, but she turned back to the girl as they got up to leave the table. She watched as the girl hugged the boy and smiled. She was distracted by her son’s hand on her shoulder, “Mom, it’s time to go back home.” The lock on her wheelchair clicked as her son unlocked the wheel and he rolled her away from the table. As she passed the young couple, she smiled. She felt warm inside because for once, she felt complete. She had finished all that she wanted to do and experienced all that she needed to consider herself a woman. It took quite some time, but she was finally at peace.