Desert Magnolia

This was a weekend of visiting. We hosted a dinner for visiting family from California, then attended a dinner at which a visiting Mama from Germany was the guest of honor. The weekend was mellow and the weather was lovely, and the the entire thing passed far too quickly, as they tend to do. One conversation with a friend revolved around why we do what we do, and what seems to be our tipping point from contemplating a change to actually acting on it. (This woman is remarkable, and has ascended in corporate ranks within the health care community with astonishing speed and great success, and she is familiar with striving well beyond expected levels to pursue goals.) She looked pointedly at me when this came up, and she said, 'Well, what did it for you? What process did you undergo that catalyzed a life changing series of decisions about going to grad school and reinventing yourself midlife?' I thought about it for a moment, before I responded. 'My decision to study med

When I was a little girl I spent time with my aunts while my Mom was off doing Mom things, like finishing up college and working. During times with the Aunties, things could get weird. They too were in college and used me for a guinea pig for all kinds of silly behavior tests. My reward was usually raisins, which I loved. My youngest Aunt, during this era, had a really sweet boyfriend who then became her husband but whom she eventually divorced  because he was 'just not motivated enough when it came to the important things.'  I'm not sure what that meant, since he was an artist and became a CPA to support his art habit, but my aunt eventually divorced him, which broke all of our hearts because we loved him. He was awesome. And he was much nicer, most days, than my aunt, but let's not get into that. Also, may he rest in peace. He somehow ended up with brain cancer, and he passed a couple of years ago. The world lost a sweet and gentle spirit when he left, and I ho