Were you are the same person you were at seventeen?

I was pretty much your average teenager. I wasn't thinking beyond graduation, I didn't have a clue as to what I wanted to do with the rest of my life, but I was absolutely positive that I was madly in love with this Sailor I knew, who was off the coast of Vietnam, and I knew that I wanted to be in the military but I was still a bit foggy on that one, because I had a mother who loved her time in the Navy, and a father who could pull out pictures of generations of family who served in the Marines, but I KNEW what Marine Bases were like, and I wanted to travel, so that was on hold for a bit.
I would spend hours trying to figure out which jeans went best with my favorite pair of cowboy boots, and just what top would be right for church with my new skirt. I was a mass of stupid actions, confused emotions and really badly thought out decisions, because I didn't have plans or any real idea of what I wanted to do or be for the next fifty years... does anyone?
Now I do admit that I made a few good decisions, like refusing alcohol, because I knew damned well, I couldn't do a glass of wine at home without getting giggly, so I developed a stupid way to keep others from thinking I was a prim little girl... I'd ask for Wild Turkey and coke... knowing that no one could afford it, so when they said it wasn't available, I instantly became the Duty Driver, because I just 'had my heart set on the good stuff that night, and nothing else would do..."
I do admit I went thru a raft of frog kissing though... Hey, Seventeen, big brown eyes, red blond hair and a Texas drawl, who looked reasonably good in a cheerleader uniform, what can I say? By the time I graduated, a few months later, I was nowhere near the same girl. I'd had my heart broken by the Sailor, lost three good friends to Vietnam, and taken a long hard look at myself. I signed up for the Army, because the Marines had a waiting list, that was the long and short of it, and by the end of that year, I was in Germany, learning how to ask for the restroom in a few different languages, and still trying to figure out what the hell I wanted to do for the rest of my life.
Now, looking back on my life with the perspective of several decades. I know the idiot I was, is nothing like the woman I am now. The girl who wanted an engagement ring, no has a shiney new pickup. The girl who thought she'd die when her sailor walked away, found some amazing strength, married a really good man, and raised two daughters who made it to 18 without jail records or tattoos, which isn't too bad in this day and age. I still don't drink, but I don't look down on those who do. I still remember stupid events and stupid decisions, but they aren't me now, so don't judge the person I am by the idiocy I created at 17, and I will do the same for you.
Look at me now! The graying redhead who has one novel under her belt, working on another, who lives in an RV surrounded by cows, with three annoying little dogs, one spoiled cat, and steps away from her best friend and adopted sister of 50 years. I knit, I cuss, I watch Dr Who and I love Mel Brooks movies. That is the person I want people to know, not the idiot who worried about which jeans would go with what boots or I could get the absolute perfect Farrah Faucett Hair.