When I look back on my life, I often think about everything that happened to me in 1963. It was an incredible year that totally sent me off in different directions that led me to where I am today. Especially when we're young, we never realize how important some decisions are until we get a chance to look at them many years later.

My family moved from one place to another six months before I graduated from high school. I left behind all I had ever known and it was tough. After a slow adjustment, I soon made friends, fell seriously in love for the first time, went to the prom, graduated and generally enjoyed life. I made special memories and a couple of friends with which I've kept in touch.

Graduating from high school, I missed an opportunity for an art scholarship because I was given the wrong deadline for the application. I was still accepted as a student, but my family was leaving the area again so I needed to decide what to do. I bought a rusty clunker to drive around our small town. For the summer I got a job at a downtown clothing store to save money and on the days I didn't work, I had a blast with my new friends. My days drifted into the perfect carefree life of many seventeen year olds. It was great fun.

By fall, my friends were off to college leaving me behind. A best girlfriend was going to become a stewardess. That was another possibility I really considered.

But I wanted more. Should I go to the art institute and make my way on my own as an artist? Become a stew and travel the world? Join the Peace Corps helping in some faraway land? I felt the call to help others: Did I have the guts to follow that calling? I thought I had nothing to give, but young people often forget that their youth, energy and enthusiasm are valuable gifts. Now I know no matter what my choice, I would have made it.

One perfect autumn day, I returned to my job after lunch. Everyone was shattered --- it was that terrible November day when President Kennedy was assassinated. It was devastating to all, but because I wanted to give back more than I got from my country, I decided then and there to join the military. It was a tough decision, but by January, exactly a year after I moved, I was taking the oath to become a member of the U. S. Navy.

After almost three full-filling years in the service of our country, I married my ever-loving husband and the rest is history!

We are creations of our genes, our environment (place and time in which we live) and the big and small choices we make. We can go forward making corrections to get us where we want to be, but some things we can never overcome; our time in history is one of them.

I write this not just for myself, but for all of us trying to find our way in a seriously confusing world. It's even harder now because there are so many more opportunities. Make no mistake, some choices will lead you in wrong or surprising directions, still they are all important. Our choices become our personal history. Listen to your inner voice, your intuition, and your good instincts while you keep moving toward your dream.