I Never Thought

I never thought it'd be this way,
or how much my life could change.
I always thought it wrong somehow
that in the convent I had it easy...

Wasn't life supposed to be hard,
complicated, and topsy-turvy?
It didn't seem to begin that way,
but things did gradually change.

Nine years ago, I set foot out my
door, and was swept away by life's
tide, taken for a very wild ride.
And what an odyssey it has been!

From vowed virginity and nunnery
to life back in the real world
and attending lectures on history
at the university, then graduating -

Taking on various jobs at all hours
just to help out my parents to make
ends meet and save up for later...
I never saw any of this coming!

I never planned on any of it happening!
And the last thing I ever thought to
come to be: I never saw me getting
engaged and married, until recently.

I joined the local Civil War reenactor's
group to give myself a hobby to do.
I joined for fun and for the history,
but I didn't join to fall in love.

And now, that's exactly what is
happening, between myself and my
file partner in the WCWA...
What can I, could I, should I say?

I never thought I'd ever get married,
I never dreamed I'd get engaged.
But now it's all happening, and I haven't
been this happy since my early convent days.

I can't believe how much my life has
changed in less than a single decade.
And until now, I hadn't reflected on it...
The significance and history of the date:

Had I remained in the convent, this year
my final vows I would have made.
This past second of July...but instead
now I'm engaged and planning to get married.