The Road Not Taken

And here it is ... the FINAL week ... although employed through December 31 ... I have some time off ... and my last day in the office in Friday, December 20. It has been a long 14 months ... as plans were made and re-made ... as discussions were held and then re-held ... all to get me to this particular place in my life ... where my roads once again diverge. I will no longer be on the professional track ... but throughout my life, I've had so many choices ... and have usually taken the one less traveled. I am a firm believer in my mom's brand of optimism ... be a good decision maker ... consider all the consequences ... but once a decision is made ... do not look back and know, from the bottom of your heart, that it was the right decision. Others may quibble about some of my decisions, small and large, but all of them brought me to and through this wondrous life that I've had ...   both professionally and personally. You will likely hear from me again this week ... but for now, I leave you with the entire poem by Robert Frost ... the one that I believe defines me.  The Road Not Taken

TWO roads diverged in a yellow wood, And sorry I could not travel both And be one traveler, long I stood And looked down one as far as I could To where it bent in the undergrowth;      Then took the other, as just as fair, And having perhaps the better claim, Because it was grassy and wanted wear; Though as for that the passing there Had worn them really about the same,        And both that morning equally lay In leaves no step had trodden black. Oh, I kept the first for another day! Yet knowing how way leads on to way, I doubted if I should ever come back.     I shall be telling this with a sigh Somewhere ages and ages hence: Two roads diverged in a wood, and I— I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference.