From Pioneer Lawmaker to Granny

Sen. Gloria Lawlah Retiring After 20 Years of Service in the General Assembly

Sen. Gloria Lawlah (D), who has represented District 26 in Prince George's since 1991, receives a goodbye hug from state Sen. E.J. Pipkin (R-Queen Anne's). (PHOTOGRAPHER: NIKKI KAHN/THE WASHINGTON POST)

Sen. Gloria G. Lawlah has been thinking a lot about the well-known Bible verse about the various stages of life:

"To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven. A time to be born, and a time to die . . . . A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance."

Now, Lawlah says, "It's the season to be Granny."

She realized the time had come to end her tenure in the state Senate when her 8-year-old grandson, Jay, called and invited her to Grandparents' Day this year at school. She couldn't make it because of a legislative meeting in Annapolis.

Lawlah, 67, has gone from wife and mother to teacher and administrator to Democrat activist and lawmaker over the past 46 years.

And she has enjoyed every minute, she said.

Lawlah talks about her 20 years in the General Assembly with a fondness that not all people can express about their work life. But now she plans to relish being retired and being "Granny" to her six grandchildren.

But just as when she decided to stop teaching, she said, now is the time to end her career as a legislator.

Aside from her grandson's invitation, there were two other issues that sealed her decision.

First, she says, she recognized she wasn't getting any younger.

"There comes a time when you look in the mirror, and you say it's time to pass the baton," she said. "Even athletes need to know when they need to retire."

And just mentioning the word athlete inspires Lawlah to talk of one of her favorites, Tiger Woods, and how he inspired her to take up golf.