Q-tips and Sturdy Poles

Received an email from a good friend of mine the other day, who among many other good things, is also a fantastic writer.  In this particular email, she was writing about the passage of time.  Children grow up and have children.  Grandchildren grow as fast as weeds, etc. Times change ... no one can keep up with technology.  She used the analogy of hanging onto a pole in a stiff wind as one works his/her way through a lifetime journey and then looks back on a lifetime of memories.  It's true.  In looking back, it seems like a blur of living in some ways and then all of a sudden you are member of the elder community with an assortment of memories ... if you are fortunate enough to have lived that long.

Just a few weeks ago, now, I had the pleasure of sharing some time with former classmates.  I joked about being referred to as a Q-tip and how I was going to adopt and embrace that term to refer to myself. Apparently Q-tip is now being used in reference to a white haired person.  It is used (hopefully) in a sort of humorous and light mockery.  Turn that mockery around.  I love that tag..  I earned every strand of white hair and am sort of proud of each lesson they show. I struggled to learn some of them ... failed to learn others ... definitely have more to learn, but am not sure my hair can get any whiter. I am a Q-tip supreme. Others of the white hair group joined in with a refreshing kind of laughter.  It was a unique moment of comradery and support. Time marches on....  quickly.  It's nice to know sometimes that you are not alone in the journey. What a lovely bunch of people the Corry Area High School Class of '67 are  -- whether or not they are Q-tips. Some do not embrace the white hair thing and that is okay too. Others have no hair, so it is a moot point.

It is also important to know that hanging on to a pole in the wind is much preferable to hanging on by a thread ...  although ... at times, off and on, the two do not seem necessarily to be totally mutually exclusive.  A good sense of humor is a gift at such times.  So is a positive attitude.  I saw a lot of both at the gathering with the CAHS Class of '67.  Go Beavers!