Don't let anyone tell you ageism is no longer a factor in employment. I was just turned down for a job for which I was supremely qualified, and when I suggested that the person they hired was younger (and less qualified), the answer was a silent affirmation. I was shocked--for this I spent my life building my career, going to grad school, learning, doing, being, creating a solid background coupled with a true love for my calling? To be cast aside because I am too old, even if I have more enthusiasm, more energy, and more sheer ability than someone half my age? Oh, it's there, my friends, that insidious bigotry, that sniggering bias, that outdated idea that age is hampered by infirmity. My wish? That the person who interviewed me someday has to find another job when she is my age (which really wouldn't be too far from today).

Do I sound bitter? Sorry, folks, but I am.

REFLECTION

I love autumn. I love seeing the sun shimmering through golden leaves, and then the gentle flutter of those same leaves as they patter to the ground or whirl in dusty eddies across field or street. There's something comforting in the melancholy of fall, in the final harvest of green-veined tomatoes, of the crisp hoar of a killing frost, of the longer evenings that beckon with the promise of rest. I welcome the excitement of change promised by the seasonal shift that comes with a kiss and a promise.

We all need change in our lives. Sometimes it's terrible change, as with the death of a spouse, yet even the worst can encourage the best as the human spirit, dampened with despair, rises once more and turns to hope. That's the spark that we need to keep going, even when it seems life holds no joy. It is our nature to accept change and keep going through the coldest winter, preparing to embrace the coming spring.