This last weekend I attended the college graduation of one of my grandchildren. As the graduates trooped across the stage to collect their hard-earned diplomas the scene blurred a little as I thought back to my graduation 58 years ago, followed by the graduation of my daughters more years ago than I think can be possible.
It made me think of all the journeys we make in life, all the firsts that define our lives starting with the first steps we take in this world and ending none of us know where. Some passages are cause for celebration, some are cause for trepidation, and some are painful but necessary. But all are worthwhile and a necessary part of our development.
One of the challenges of old age is that we are no longer as physically or mentally agile as we once were. The temptation to hark back to a perfect past, which was really not so perfect, just familiar, is a danger we face at this age. There is a certain grace in acknowledging that the present way of doing things, while different and perhaps not perfect, is the way it is done now.
I remember years ago staying with my grandfather, a retired Marine general who had been on the cover of Time magazine for his actions in the Korean War. My newly minted second lieutenant husband left from my grandfather’s retirement home to report to his new duty station. After commenting on the changes in the unform since his days on active duty, my grandfather told this nascent Marine, ‘The Marine Corps is even better today than it was in my time.’ I hope, as I too approach 80, that I can express the same kindness and grace with those that follow me.