Happy Labor Day, Everybody. I know that sounds twisted…all most of us ever do is “labor” — so I mean that I hope that everyone saved some time for themselves to have a block of space of peace and serenity, even mentally, sometime today. I think I’m like a lot of people that Labor Day Weekend pretty much signals a change of seasons already. At the community college where I work, Fall Semester officially starts tomorrow; my mom’s cellar boiler is going to be replaced by (and costs covered by!) her energy affairs assistance program on Wednesday; and I begin my online graduate program in Gerontology Aging Services Management next week. This will be, by and large, the first September in several years — at least since my late dad had been diagnosed with cancer in the summer of 2003 — that there is something positive, forward-looking, and hopeful-feeling going on in my life which feels like it is for me, and not for taking care of someone’s illness, not for my boss, not for others.
I don’t mean that in a selfish way: I mean that I want and like to help others, but what I think are my talents and gifts have been constrained my unexpected hurdles and detours in the past few years. I want to learn to be and help in all things that I can on the positive, administrative side of things, so that someday experiences and services and communications will be easier for the caregivers, and the caregiven, that come after all of us and everything we’ve had to do, be frustrated by, and go through.
Maybe I’m a glutton for punishment! My mother “admits” to me yesterday that she fell in the backyard last Monday, trying to shore up a bent piece of fence wood. I can’t watch my mom 24/7…then sometimes i think, Why oh why am I taking on so much in my life right now, in case something happens to her??! But my dad always told me, when things got rough or the fork in the road multiplied: Gary, you’ll find a way… I’ve been wending my way through so many paths and detours and roads in the last several years, that I’ve become quite expert at it, if I don’t say so myself. 
I feel a surge of energy that wants me to take all the difficulties of the last few years, to reflect on the positive lessons I’ve learned from them, and to turn these into throwing myself enthusiastically into what lies ahead and what there is productive that I can learn, accomplish, create and change. I want this September to be a new beginning that, this time, is about life, not about weakness or sickness or dying. If we each start every day like that, we can maybe accomplish more good in one such a day in our lives than we would have in all the previous yesterdays. It’s just about taking off in a new direction — even if just starting in our dreams and goals.
Hi Gary–This morning, I thought: I hope we hear from Gary today.
I had a similar feeling today: I want to feel great about the positives and see the positives in everyone and everything. I want the negatives to slide past. It’s a new beginning, another way to focus on life. It’s what we have, it’s what we’re here to do. As you say, let’s make the most of it. When we make the most of it, we honor ourselves in the best way possible.
I’m so proud of you! Keep us posted on your studies. I’ll be anxious to hear about your classes and what you’re learning (and teaching because you are a great teacher, even when you’re the student).