My mom would have turned 65 yesterday, had she not passed away in 1998 from inflammatory breast cancer. At a certain point in her illness, my mother had to stop working. What I remember from that time are her musings on how she was going to change careers, get away from the teaching she had been doing for thirty years to try something new and exciting. I’m still inspired by her example that we are never too old to consider reinventing ourselves, never too old to pursue something new.

In a similar way, I’m inspired by the many women in my classes who are “returning” students. These women are starting graduate school after years of being out of the classroom, often sprinting to catch up with the new technology required to be a successful distance education student and librarian. On top of that, many of these women continue to raise families, hold down jobs and remain active members of their church and community. Like my mother, they inspire me with evidence that we are never too old (or too busy) to learn, grow, change and pursue our dreams.

So, on Mother’s Day, let’s hear it for moms near and far, here and gone (but never forgotten), librarians or not – thanks for inspiring me to be more tomorrow than I am today.