By LIZ MARCHI
My work life has been full of aspirations and over reach. I have always aspired to do things that I wasn’t credentialed to do and that people said were too hard to do. In the difference between what is and what can be, that’s my space. Status quo has never been good. It’s been brutal at times but more often than not full of moments of sheer ecstasy. I could see it in the faces of my bosses or friends when the line was crossed, when something extraordinary happened.
One of the realizations of aging is that it’s time to hand those big dreams, those big aspirations off. When I turned 60, I had a very hard time deciding whether or not to get involved with a second angel fund in Montana. I don’t do things twice, I am a startup gal. But something said, it’s just around the corner, do it.
I wake up grateful every day for this life, lived today in an amazing place (view from my friend Denver’s house framed by the Mission Mountains.)
I knew that I was making a potential 7-10 year commitment. What is that corner? It’s the growing number of entrepreneurs and startups IN Montana that can and will compete globally, its new talent and new people in our state who can take them beyond what our angels are meant to do.
I have absolutely no doubt that we are rounding that corner. There isn’t a day that goes by that I don’t engage with some amazing native Montanan or recently relocated person with great values, super smarts and a shared vision about living a life in this beautiful place where one CAN create value, build wealth and live a life of meaning and significance. A place where work and family share.
Because I believe that Montana is an extraordinary place and that Montanans are extraordinary people, I will grow old here. Enduring winters that are harsh and days that are gray, I relish every moment that I am alive and part of the fabric of life here. Things haven’t always gone my way, but in the quiet of my very sparse office in the barn, on a daily basis, I have the most extraordinary conversations with extraordinary people and about doing extraordinary things that make lives better.
Today the cows broke three fence rails. The cat that I inherited when my daughter started vet school got into it with the corgis. I have to drive to the Flathead tomorrow for the second time this week which will put my one year old car over the 40,000 mile mark but who would I trade places with? Nobody. Point being: I wake up grateful every day for this life, lived today in an amazing place and grateful to be handing off to some of the best and the brightest.
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Liz Marchi lives on a ranch in Polson, Montana with her husband Jon. She is the Fund Coordinator for the Frontier Angel Fund and spends a lot of time thinking and learning about entrepreneurs, the economy and Montana’s unique place in the world. She has three daughters and a stepson and daughter and a grandchild. She graduated from Hollins College and is entering the final quarter of life…unless we go into overtime.