Saturday, May 22, 2010

Twenty-five years ago today....

My blog has no pictures.

No illustrations.

No graphics.

It is called… Gray.

Not because I think life is colorless, or images are bad.

True, I am not a photographer, and I truly appreciate others who can take great photos and videos.

But I wanted my blog to be… pure.

Words only.

That may be weird. But…

I called it “Gray” for a variety of reasons.

My female West Point classmates, at our 20th class reunion, thought I should write about our experiences as women at West Point.

Fine.

I wanted to write about West Point.

And my personal experiences at West Point.

‘Cuz those are the only ones I truly know.

West Point is … gray.

The buildings are gray. The uniforms are gray. In winter, when there is no snow, virtually everything is gray.

But I also wanted to write about middle age. When we are all turning… gray.

AND… I wanted to write about life.

Which is frequently gray.

Or which, more accurately, has many gray areas.

I wanted to look at that part of life which is not black or white.

So… that left a lot for me to talk about.

Today…….

Or twenty-five years ago today, my class graduated from West Point.

Twenty-five years.

Wow.

What has happened in those twenty-five years since graduation….???

We all have different stories.

We all have different experiences.

We all have different takes on the past 25 years.

Some people say: “Gosh! Where did the time go?”

Some people say: “Wow! 25 years!!!! Let’s be proud!”

Still others say: “Great! Look at what we have done, but look forward at what we still have to do!”

I say: “Look at it all. I mean, yes, good lord, where DID the time go? But, my Lord, look at what all we have done!!! Marriages, children, careers, accomplishments, it is mind boggling. And, most importantly, where are we going next?”

What will we be doing in the NEXT twenty-five years???

In many ways, it does seem like graduation was just yesterday.
But we have all been through a lot, done a lot, lived a lot. No matter what paths we have chosen.

And we, who are still here, can look out into the… gray!... unforeseen future and say:

“What is next? Bring it on! Here I am. Let me do my thing!”