Milestone

       So I am about to reach a milestone. What does it mean? Have I reached some pinnacle and now everything changes? I've reached milestones before, many of them I don't even remember. Many of them  I do remember came and went without any fanfare or major changes in me or my life. But there have been milestones that changed everything in my life.
     Those milestones I don't remember are my first tooth, my first step, my first word. Even my first day at school I don't remember although I at least have a photograph of that day. The first milestone I vaguely remember is my thirteenth birthday or do I remember it because we spoke often of it in later years? Elvis Presley was the flavour of the day and we were all jiving to rock and roll music when my Dad asked me to dance. He embarrassed me by fox trotting to Jailhouse Rock! A few months later he was killed in a motor vehicle accident. Now that was a milestone I shall never forget.
     At eighteen I was a nursing student and had met Howard. We were married when I turned twenty one. Then at thirty I was a young mother with two small boys and at forty I emigrated to Australia. At fifty I was part time hobby farmer and part time nurse enjoying the wonderful new lifestyle in Australia. At sixty I was a grandmother with all the joys and concerns that comes with the territory of grand motherhood. Now nearly seventy, retired and downsizing to move into a retirement village life is as exciting as all the other milestones I have experienced.
     I've come to the conclusion that milestones are not merely the passing of the years but the events that take place in those years. I'm reminded of the fact that we are all living in 'The Dash'. Yes 'The Dash'. It's the dash between our birth date and our death date. We see it all the time...so and so 1944 - 2020 and all of our milestones take place in 'The Dash'.
So as I approach this milestone I am not frightened. I have found some perspective in writing this blog. It's all just a part of my dash and I plan to live it abundantly and courageously.
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