Surpriseme, 60

Growing up in a small college town in Ohio gave me the framework through which I view everything.
The people I admired growing up were college professors. I even admired the intellectual elitism.
The college town was a liberal one that taught a different lesson to me... that of the celebration of differences and tolerance for those differences that you personally wouldn't pick. I grew up with the same 100 people that I started kindergarten with. I love old friends and familiarity. Real downtowns are delightful to me.
But alas, I went to a different college where sororities and fraternities reigned and it was like moving from Woodstock to a 1950's sitcom. I didn't dislike it. I explored that way of life with gusto, dating a football player and getting dressed for sorority and fraternity formal dances.
By the time I finished college, I was over it and had no desire to marry a college boyfriend and settle down as many of my friends did. Instead, I dove into my career. I grew up watching and admiring Mary Tyler Moore (mostly in reruns), but I wanted to be her. I wanted the cool apartment, the banter at the office and great friends. I was very successful and in my 20's I got my master's degree in communication. Frankly now, I am not certain that I believe that Communication deserves its own category as a social science, but I digress.
Near 30, I decided it was time to marry and have kids. I married my prom date who'd gone to Yale and then went off to conquer the world and came back to marry me. We moved to Minnesota, had 2 beatiful girls, grew apart and divorced 3 years ago.
These days, my priority is balance.
Below are two of my favorite quotes:
"A coward is incapable of exhibiting love; it is the prerogative of the brave." Mathatma Gandhi

..."People are often unreasonable, irrational and self-centered, forgive them anyway." Mother Theresa

That's the