Reward for aging

5-18-09 celebrating brain

Some of my girlfriends and I have been faithfully watching the TV show “Dancing with the Stars” (DWTS) for several years. This season many of us in Iowa are cheering for Shawn Johnson the Olympian gymnast, since she is from Iowa. Shawn is doing well for being only 17 years old. Last season on DWTS I had to cheer on Cloris Leachman. Cloris too is originally from Iowa, but I was rooting for her not because of that fact, but because she was a feisty old women. I was intrigued by her, entertained by her humor, and I was inspired.

Last weekend Cloris Leachman was in Des Moines making a few appearances for charity. She even brought along her dancing partner to entertain. I would have enjoyed seeing her, but I was in KC at that time. However, my friend Ann did get to attend and Ann included this in her travel blog on May 10th, (scroll to the end to see pictures and read about Cloris).

http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Iowa/Des-Moines/blog-398179.html


Ann is my friend who I met in 2005, traveling with the Drake University study trip to Europe, thanks to my husband's MPA class. Ann is like Cloris Leachman in many ways. Ann has a BOLD spirit. She was born in Trinidad and her father is Chinese and her mother is Indian, which gives Ann some amazing genes to work with. Ann is feisty, funny and I real go-getter….. and I enjoy her loud laughter.

As I have aged over the last few years, I have observed that my girlfriends and I are becoming more bold, silly and not afraid to speak our minds. Gone are the shy, timid girls worried about looking and acting perfect. This is truly the reward for tuning 50! (Watch out guys!)

Here’s to Cloris and Ann…. two strong women who inspire!