To Thine Own Self

When they returned to the house, she made a peach pie and put a chicken on to bake. Then she tossed her new clothes into the washer and sat down at the table to do some figuring. Before Katie started teaching her how to be a modern wife and mother, what were her expectations? Was that what she wanted now? No wonder she had felt so harried for the last few months. Somewhere along the line she had left herself behind. People changed and grew, but she hadn't been growing. A person couldn't grow when they were living up to the expectations of others. Alex married an independent woman who loved to cook and take care of her family. What he had now was a woman who turned to him for every decision - a woman who wore clothes because they were in fashion. Unless he had changed, that wasn't what he wanted. Of course, he could have changed - in which case they would drift further apart if she reverted. It was a chance she had to take unless she wanted to spend the rest of her life being what everyone else wanted. The only way she could be sure she was what he wanted was to stop pretending. Socializing didn't require a person to look or act like everyone else.