Did You Ever Think Life Was Gonna Be This Way?

We saw Natalie Merchant in concert (Natalie Merchant: Three Decades of Music) last night. I've been a fan since I stumbled upon her first album with 10,000 Maniacs, In My Tribe , in a music shop in Indiana all the way back in 1988. So I've been around for her entire music career - and she's been around for most of my life.  It was so satisfying to see her last night, for a number of reasons. I haven't listened to her in a while, and so just getting a full blast of so many of her greatest songs was like a lullaby to my heart. And to see her dancing just like she did back when I last saw her in concert, in 1992 or 1993, shored me up a little. Some things remain, even as the world turns and you change from a 13 year old discovering music on her own to me, 42 and criticizing myself as I look in the mirror even as I continue to marvel over all that my body has endured over the decades (especially the last decade - two pregnancies, two years of nursing, and then four yea