"I want to do what your doing," she said.

Elena with Carole's goats, age 12

Earlier this summer I wrote about the most important investment my husband I had ever made. It turned out it was not about money or mutual funds or retirement plans...not that we didn't take advantage of all those things... but that was not it. It was the investment we made in the lives of our children.

You need to understand that I was told from the time that I could understand what "work" really was that I needed to get an education or I would end up having no choices. My father said going to college was the only way to avoid doing the things I might hate.

That guidance somehow changed the way I saw the world. Education became my bell-weather for so many judgements made for myself and my family.

Today one of my grandchildren checked into her dorm room at a college here in Oregon. She is bright and strong willed. As we were shopping for school clothes the other day she said that her goal was to be like us. She wanted to have the money to travel and see "everything" like we had.

That is the other side of being educated. That learning opened door for not only us but for our children.

As I said earlier this summer in that post, the best investment we ever made was the upbringing and education of our children. She is the next generation. And it remains important to get an education. If she has children I hope she remembers to pass that gift on as it is being passed on to her.  She will find that what she sows, so will she reap.

So, the beat goes on. Family grows up, leaves home, finds new traditions and lives of their own. And those of us that invested in them will benefit from what they learn and do in so many ways. It is all good.

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Note: The notion of education has changed a lot in the last few years. The ways that young people can arrive at their goal can are varied. Traditional college education is not the end all be all anymore.

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