That's the signpost up ahead

I first drove up to this cabin when my kids were really little. Allison, probably 7 or 8 at the time, was my co-pilot and did very well reading the map and the hand-written directions --given this was pre- MapQuest and/or GPS days...

It was dark, and she carefully read me the directions as we got closer to the cabin. Left at Paine Street. OK. Right at Moonridge. OK. Then, she said, "Left at Yin Road." OK...we drove on. No Yin Road. At the end of the road, we turned around and went back. It was very dark...and we did not find Yin Road. We pulled over...and realized that the directions actually read, "Left at Y in Road. " It's been a long standing joke in our home all these years.
I saw that sign again as I drove up here this week, and thought of how times have certainly changed and how now that I've driven here a dozen times or more, I don't even need directions anymore. When I got to the Y in the road, I knew exactly what to do.
Life lesson? Hell yeah.
See, the road ends at that Y and you MUST make a choice to go left or right at that point--or you end up in an cow field! I saw the sign again on my walk today and thought about all the turns and twists my life has taken this last four years...and all the choices that were made without a whole lot of direction--it was awfully dark at that point. I got to the Y in the road of my life and had to figure out which way to turn.
I committed at Yin Road, and--sans co-pilot, MapQuest or GPS--it was a turn toward the future. I realized that the other way really was no longer even an option.
But, just like that night nearly 20 years ago, I had to search for that turn. It wasn't clearly marked and the directions were kinda difficult to figure out. Of course once I got there I understood one thing very clearly--bright as day--
it's only the end of the road if you fail to make the turn.