Mary D - age 73 - Kathleen Cosgrove

When I look at my life, I know that I am an ordinary woman who has lived an
extraordinary life. Nothing was expected of me so I had the freedom to invent
myself, to make my own circumstances as George Bernard Shaw would say.
I joined the Air Force followed by college where I was transformed by the rigor
of critical thinking and inspired by different perspectives. I have enjoyed and
benefitted from a variety of career paths - political campaign management,
event management, hotel sales, destination management & marketing and
economic development work. I have had the great honor of working with
hundreds of people smarter than me and I always looked better because of
them. Looking back, I was relatively fearless in accepting new challenges. I
sometimes wonder when, and how, I had achieved that level of confidence.
I grew intellectually from being insatiably curious, a voracious reader and an
extensive international travel. I am a political activist and a believer in truth
and justice for ALL. I have known the great love of a man - the best human
being I have ever known - for which I am very grateful. I have good and true
friends who accept me for who and what I am and never let me get away with
anything. As for aging, I have visible evidence that I am growing older. And
yet everything I think and feel is about 30 years younger. I know full well that
good health helps me sustain this perspective. And, the fact that my expertise
and experience is still in demand, I continue to contribute to work that
makes a difference in people’s lives. I intend to grow older reluctantly and as
gracefully as possible.