An only child, I'm a mother of four, stepmother of three, grandmother of 14, great grandmother of 7.  Retired Army veteran with a teaching degree in History. Working on Masters in Native American studies. Love sewing and all kinds of crafts.  Love to travel, but don't get to near enough.  Been married three times and divorced twice. married this time for 19 years. Little past the Boomer stage, I am 65 (as of the seventh of this month).  Hate the fact that fashion designers and all the style shows seem to think that all women disappear after 45.

How did you get to where you are now?

Lots of tough times, lots of fun times, great kids who supported my desire to be in the Army even while they were younger and I was a divorced mother.  I love to read and learn and see and do things.  I believe in a Greater Power that made us all.

How do you see yourself differently now than you did 10 years ago?

I know that I can't physically do all of the same things that I did 10 years ago, but I think I know myself better than I did then.  I am learning that I don't know the please everyone and that I have a right to do things that make me happy.

Where do you see yourself in 10 years?

I'll be glad if I am warm, happy and getting around good in my own home.  I want to take a trip to Ireland, and I hope that in 10 years I can pull out the photographs of that trip and many others and remember the great time I had traveling new places.

Hey, Kid!  Spend time doing things that you want to do, but also spend time with your grandparents because they won't always be here and there will be thousands of things you will wish you had asked them.  Tell the people you love how you feel and if they don't love you back, it's their loss.  Stand up for yourself when people put you down. Get away from people who belittle you and try to make you feel small. You are a good person and you really do have good sense, even if you might not always use it.  Don't put off things that you want to do.  Some day you will be 65 and you won't feel like walking the Trail of Tears--do it now!! Learn to swim while you are young and not afraid of looking like a beached whale.  First and formost, learn to love yourself.

My grandmother, my mother, all the women who pioneered in the Armed Forces.  Single mothers who survived and smiled through their tears.  Any woman who fell down, but got back up, brushed themselves off, mended the rips and tears and moved down the road.