Some years ago a good friend of mine shared a portion of a speech by Dr. Rosalind E. Griffin of EMU’s Board of Regents. It was presented at the first annual Girls & Women in Conversation Conference back in March 1998. Hopefully, it will do for you what it did for me as I began preparing to become a "woman of a certain age."

*****

“If I were to give some kind of lesson for all women to keep in mind, it would be the following: ‘Every woman here will one day turn 40. Whatever age you are not tells whether you are planning at the right pace in order to achieve these following top 40 priorities. By age 40 you should have:

1. A piece of mind and a piece of property.
2. A will.
3. Will power.
4. A savings account in your own name and an IRA in the name of your future security.
5. A mammogram.
6. A manicure, not to mention a pedicure, a facial, and a massage all on the same day.
7. A set of matching luggage.
8. A ticket to some exotic place to unpack it.
9. A great hairdresser, gynecologist, and stock broker.
10. A passionate, very unforgiveable love affair.
11. A little black dress that makes you look five pounds thinner.
12. A sense of humor, style, and purpose.
13. A selfish streak.
14. A spiritual foundation which gets you through a very bad night without going crazy.
15. A facial foundation which gets you through a very long day without getting ashy.
16. A good bra.
17. A good spa.
18. A library card used often.
19. A credit card used sparingly.
20. At least one person in your life who says, “You call, I come.”
21. A good body language (multilingual).
22. A broken heart and the knowledge you can survive it.
23. A cause to fight (domestic violence, infant mortality, save the whales—your choice).
24. A personal relationship with God.
25. A personal trainer.
26. Selective amnesia (what Saturday morning meeting?).
27. Gall.
28. A good skin regimen.
29. The ability to converse on any subject without the benefit of concrete knowledge or access to the facts.
30. A shocking secret.
31. A pair of silk pajamas.
32. A lifetime membership in at least one organization dedicated to uplifting womankind.
33. A phone number of someone who is good with their hands.
34. At least one drop dead, don’t-speak-to-me-because-you-KNOW-you-don’t-know-me gorgeous photo of yourself.
35. A friendship that has stood the test of time.
36. One last chance to tell the guy you were crazy about in your 20s who treated you like cigarette ashes on the floor when you were too dumb to know when he walked out of your life with your heart in his hands, “Thank you, thank you, thank you!”
37. A soul mate.
38. Faith, hope, and a good fantasy.
39. A dream.
40. A plan to make it come true.’”

Reprint from R. E. Griffin Speech