For real?

"What is REAL?" asked the Rabbit one day.

"Real isn't how you are made," said the Skin Horse. "It's a thing that happens to you.


I've been pondering being "real" the past few days. It all started with a bumper sticker I saw that said, "Real men love Jesus". I'm guessing that the driver of the patchwork-looking Chevy Cavalier that it was pasted on meant Jesus, the son of God, and not some random transient worker from south of the border. What does it mean to be real? Sure, I looked in the dictionary and I found various definitions of the word. I think my favorite is "not imaginary: existing as fact, rather than as a product of dreams or the imagination". As I approach another birthday I am tempted to judge my life in terms of the number of years or what I've accomplished as "real". The years seem long and the list seems extremely short until I remember three certain people who are very real. Wendy, Katie, Maggie. These girls, women now, defy the above meaning of real in my estimation. True, they are not imaginary and they exist as fact; however, they ARE a product of dreams and imagination. Without the dreams and hopes and wishes of each of them life would be very different for all of us. Wendy had a dream--college to get that all-important degree to teach. Katie had a dream--getting into law school. Maggie has a dream--a degree in speech therapy to be able to work with children. That's not to say that they don't have more hopes and dreams. It just means that with the love and support of each other they have accomplished some of the dreams they have had. Another year older? Nah...another year more real!