Her fiftieth birthday was a time of celebration and life review for Lisa

“Who am I at fifty?” she asked herself.

As she evolved, she asked herself that question again at ages fifty five, sixty three and seventy. Here are her reflections on those turning points

I am a passive and contented child, secure in my extended family in middle class Vienna.
I am a lost little girl a little past three, alone in a room in a foreign country.
I am a defiant little girl, scrawllng on the walls of the cabin in a boat  taking me far across the sea…     

I am a refugee child in small town Australia; lapping up special attention from my brother, neighbors, teachers and friends.
At ten, I stand alone in a city school playground clutching my heart in sadness, uprooted again.
A schoolgirl in uniform at sixteen, I think about boys, emote at my piano and dream of returning to Vienna.  

A determined young woman at twenty-one, I work my way through Europe, searching for roots.
A confused young woman at twenty-five; I live with my parents, teach  music  and wonder what it is all about.
A psychology student at twenty nine, I live alone, teach music and attend College classes at night.

I am a blossoming individual at thirty-three, an American citizen; dating and working and exploring myself in psychotherapy.
At thirty-eight, I am a wife; I am my husband, his family, his children and my career.
At forty, I am merged into “we,” cruising on a sailboat, far from work, from family, from external harmony.

I am a successful psychotherapist at forty five; joyfully embracing my first grandchild, I connect anew with family roots, with my parents now living nearby.