"Is it stereo typing to say all midwives have gray hair?"

Approximatly 13 years ago I began my venture into the "birth worlds". I call it a world, largely because those of us who do birth work, live , drink, and eat birth related material and experiances. It is quite difficult to teach another about this who is not a doula, childbirth educator, midwife, or lactation consultant. Heck, I would even put OB nurses in this batch.
When you find yourself passionate about something, it becomes your life. "You are what you love...not what loves you..." Is this not the truth?
So, I am learning how to juggle being a mother, balancing my own study time and work at a nursing home all to boot. I think there is a husband in the mix as well. I am constantly checking in with where I am at in my progression in learning and have to remind myself the sacrafice of enjoying a small town lifestyle and being a mother and wife in regards to how long it is taking to get births under by belt and study with midwives.
I began to observe a trend amoung younger midwives. They were all very balanced and young; They seemed to have alot of traveling under their belts, and had experianced a variety of apprentaships. Everything from Peru to London.
Then the light bulb went off. They did not have all the rest to juggle. They were childless, un-married, and free to the wind to learn and soak it all up no matter what the climate. What was the response though from clients who knew they did not have children and had not actually experiance childbirth? What was the temperature of discussion when her "life" experiance of childbirth was vast and thourough, and yet she had never had the ups and downs of marriage and birth?
Then I looked to the midwives with gray hair. They had raised numerous children and watched them all grow. Assisted them with their own births and marriage counseling. They had forged paths in their own communities and let go of the conferances they SOOOO wanted to attend overseas. They went through the years waiting for the couple of clients who would forgo the hospital birth and give homebirth a try. They struggled with their own spirituality and their place in birth and they watched the grey hairs grow in over time.
Do you know that moment that you hit yourself on the head and realize the answer was right in front of you the whole time? That was the moment that hit me last night as I read about a conferance in San Diego I am creating on going to.
It hit me that I have been blessed with the opportunity to have had a child...and to not have anymore. I have been blessed to have a husband that encourages me to break free of "what I think" the learning will look like. I am blessed to be going into pre-menopause and to understand it is my body's way of encouraging me forward towards my dream and to be ok with not having more children.
I appreciate all the young vibrant energy of midwives who are forging their own way in the birth communities who may not have the "family" knowledge that comes with giving birth and marriage, however they infuse birth with excitment and energy that the others may not have as we juggle another type of life.
I acknowledge the grey haired women who are passing the torch with excitment mixed with tears in their eyes as they watch the new students step up to what will surely be a wild and fullfiling ride along with some new grey hairs.