The Thursday Ramble: Milestones of Life

 

After a wonderful dinner at a northern Italian restaurant on Michigan Avenue in Chicago we stopped to see the "Bean" on the way back to the hotel. We came across this young woman having photos taken for her quinceañera. AI tells me: 

"Quinceañera is a traditional Latin American celebration marking a young woman's 15th birthday. It signifies her transition from childhood to young womanhood and combines deep religious gratitude with family and social festivities."

A major milestone in her life. This gets me to thinking about the major milestones in my life. 

I really didn't care if I had a drivers license or not, but my father insisted that I do so the year I turned 16.  I had missed the regular drivers education class at High School. The instructor took me on as an independent study, I finished the 12 week curriculum in about three weeks, he signed me off on the driving part after about half of the recorded hours, I passed the written and road test on the first try. And dad handed me keys to the pickup trucks in the driveway and a key to the gas pump on the farm, and said take care of yourself. 

I turned 18 about the same time I started my last year of high school. That meant two things, I could buy alcohol and I could vote.  My sister took me out for a drink, I bought a bottle of scotch on the way home. I remember voting in the national election that fall, standing in line, using the old fashioned mechanical machines (the only time I ever voted on those.) The candidate I voted for lost, but I had done my part. 

My graduation from High School was overshadowed my sisters wedding a few days later.  It was a milestone for me, and for my parents, the last of their children was finished with school. 

It was 16 years later when I graduated from college. I did a four year degree on the ten year plan, working full time and taking classes part time. It was a big milestone for me. I was the first one in the family to finish a college degree. (None of my grandparents finished high school, my father passed the GED after I graduated from high school.) 

Law school came faster, starting just three years after I finished at Rollins. The start and finishing my law degree were major milestones. Then there was taking and passing the bar exam. I did that once, on the first try, and I never want to do that again. 

Ten years later I took the bold plunge to take a job in DC. This put us in two homes, in two states.  The job worked out, we have stayed here. 

In 2015, while I was recovering from major surgery, the Supreme Court ruled that if we married all states and the federal government would recognize the marriage. Plans were made and we married that fall, a major milestone. 

Driving into Idaho in 2023 to complete my quest to visit all 50 states.  That one really made me smile. 

The next one would be in January of 2024. I went to lunch with my staff and my boss, they went back to the office, and I walked to the subway and went home to start retirement.