What comes after lifetime achievement award?(The Last Laugh)(Editorial)

On October 14, the Wisconsin Women in Higher Education Leadership (WWHEL) plans to present me with its first Outstanding Achievement Award for supporting the promotion of women into leadership positions.

It's a grassroots group that has grown considerably in recent years and does great work in supporting women throughout higher education in the state. I'm very honored to receive the very first ever of the award, which I see as mostly a tribute to the failure of others to appreciate a woman's value.

Or maybe it's a deep finesse to lure me to WWHEL's annual conference this year. (Twice in recent years I've had conflicts and sent my senior writer instead. She does a great job, but reported that people were disappointed to see her instead of me.)

Encapsulating my career with far more insight that I ever attained, nominator Rosemary Keefe wrote that I inspire other women to succeed based on my own failures in the workplace.

I'm thrilled to be receiving the award. But it makes me wonder: Having achieved a certifiable lifetime of experience, am I receiving a cosmic message that it's time to move on to another phase?

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

Looking at the options