3:52 PM

The subject line began with:

Congratulations

She nearly deleted it.

Most emails beginning with congratulations involved a conference she had never heard of.

This one was different.

The association wanted to give her its Lifetime Achievement Award.

She read the email twice.

Then forwarded it to her husband.

He replied immediately.

WOW!!! About time. ❤️

She smiled.

Her assistant came in ten minutes later carrying coffee.

"Did you see it?"

"Apparently I'm very old."

"Apparently you're very accomplished."

That sounded better.

Her assistant left.

She opened the email again.

There were paragraphs about leadership.

Contribution.

Impact.

Three decades of work.

She had once imagined receiving something like this.

Maybe not this exact award.

But something that meant she had arrived.

She read the title again.

Lifetime Achievement Award

Her eyes stopped on the first word.