(.)

Ok, not sure if any guys read this, but they may want to just pass over this one. Just giving you a fair warning!

. Such a harmless little punctuation mark, but as women it is so much more. Menstruation. On the rag. Aunt Flo's visit. TOM. I could go on. It has been our constant companion since adolesence.

I never much minded my period. It was annoying, yes, but I never had cramps or got sick or doubled over in pain from it. It was something I tolerated every 28 days before getting on with my life. It came. It went. Who cared.

Until I got married and had a reason for wanting it to come. Every month. Then suddenly this thing I had barely tolerated was something I, in a strange way, looked forward to. It was a symbol that I again could get on with my life - a magic 8 ball saying outlook good.

And now, for the second month in a row, my little marker of normalcy is 2 weeks late. And again I peed on a stick and was greeted with the blessed (-) negative. Whew. But again, I gotta wonder what the heck is up with my body. This little annoyance, this visitor is dearly missed. Somewhere along the way it got linked to health and feminity in my mind the same as glowing skin or breasts.

So now I wait (and go to visit the lovely doc) for the little pull and accompanying sigh that all is well and normal and good. When I can ask my uterus "Things back to normal now?" and get the answer I desire: As I see it, yes.