Milestones

I have had this post brewing for some time, and Thanksgiving seemed the appropriate time to put it in writing. This is the time of year for reflection and looking back. And this year has been monumental in that regard.

Every year and day are measured in benchmarks - events that you can look back on and a moment becomes a memory. Perhaps because I am now so much older - in my 50s - these benchmarks seem to be larger and more potent. Instead of measuring a month or even a year - they now have tags on them where they amount to decades. This fall we had a reunion for the Rosettes - the first color guard I taught when I moved here. The defunct organization is 50 years old and the time I put in with them is 25 years back. I went to DCI this summer with a childhood friend from my formative days in Erie and celebrated its 40th history. What makes this astounding is that I can say I was actually participating in the very onset of the activity. It is still a large part of my vocation. I started my new job this Fall with the youth theater that honed my teaching skills 20+ years ago. My house is getting closer to being paid off and it is almost 15 years that I have tended to its gardens now.
 
It is boggling if I ponder on it too much. But yet it is important to stop and pay homage to it and honor these monumental passings. Just as you observe the people that pass in and out of our lives. I have a last grandmother that is in her mid 90s. I am raising my 3rd adult dog in my lifetime. Still learning in a new relationship. All profound reflections at the end of the day. Take time to notice them.

"Sooner or later we all discover that the important moments in life are not the advertised ones, not the birthdays, the graduations, the weddings... The real milestones are less prepossessing. They come to the door of our memory unannounced, stray dogs that amble in, sniff around a bit and simply never leave. Our lives are measured by these."

Susan B Anthony