Today would have been mother's 85th birthday. She died 5 years ago at the end of January, at age 80. I spent some time today thinking of Mom. The older I get, the more of my memories of her are from when she was younger than I am now. Puts an interesting turn on the memories. Mostly I remember the smart, but humble and down to earth way she approached life, and how much she did, day to day, working, cooking, cleaning, looking after us, trying to bring us up to be successful, moral, kind people.
I also went to a retirement party for a colleague today. Jim retired last week with over 43 and a half years of service. I'm not going to compete with that - my planned date is 16 months ahead, when I'll have 30 years in. Every week that goes by brings that date noticeably closer, and that pace will only accelerate in the months ahead. I need to move into a new, more active phase of planning for the transition.
Meanwhile, my life happens day by day. My memories of the ever lengthening past need to inform and support my present experience - not weigh me down, but lift me to higher aspirations and better decisions. My anticipation of the future guides my way, in an adaptable and fluid way, as I know that life will present many opportunities and challenges, and some of them are bound to change the course of my life from what I can currently envision.
No comments:
Post a Comment