get to wash your hands
and say, “Education is
fixed.” Do I wish Afghanistan was more stable and
that women there had
secured equal rights? Yes,
but that just isn’t going to
happen fast.
; You write about the latter part of your parents’
lives. Your thoughts on
your own next chapter?
I have a wonderful model
in my mother, who worked
to anticipate the next stage
of her life. As her world
got smaller, she decided to
move to a retirement community where she would be
surrounded by old friends.
She wanted to stay in Midland, rather than move in
with George and me. I think
it is important for all of us to
make choices that keep our
support systems—mental
and emotional—strong.
I am a great optimist, but I’m also a realist.
What’s reassuring is that time passes and things
change, and war doesn’t last forever. “ ”
; As a child you day-
dreamed of growing chil-
ies under a big sky, as your
grandmother did. Things
turned out differently.
It’s not that much of a con-
trast. George and I have
our ranch, where I grow
prairie grasses. But my
life is much richer than I
could have imagined as a
girl gazing out at the pecan
farms outside El Paso. I
never thought that after the
dusty landscape of Midland
I would see the dusty land-
scape of Afghanistan, or the
lush jungles of the Thailand-
Burma border, or so much
of our own country. I’ve
been more fortunate than
I ever dreamed. ;
