The sun has yet to rise, but its coming warmth already pierces the October morning. I feel it. Today will be one of those great fall days that lifts your soul and spirit … the kind of day that often follows a day-long soaking rain — one of those rains that infiltrates every inch of your world with a cutting cold and unshakable dampness.
I look back at my summer. It’s as if summer never happens. No beach vacation. No dinners out. No parties. We make the best of it. You can do that if you are surrounded by people like I have around me: a wife I love more than I can imagine, a son beyond compare, a family with an incredible capacity for love, support, strength, and optimism. I thank god for what I have in my life, but I have to question what the hell kind of god would give that to me, but not someone else. That is the quandary I can’t wrap my head around.
August arrives, and I start a new job. I say goodbye to workmates who over eleven years became very close friends, and it is more difficult than I thought it would be. But it’s time. And I start a new path. The new job has invigorated a side of my brain that has stagnated for quite some time, and I’ve thrown myself into it with everything I have. I am busy … and energized. Portions of my brain, long atrophied, have been set free. After two months of immersion into the details of my work I’m only beginning to get settled in. There is much to learn. Much to do. Much to be thankful for.
And being thankful is difficult in 2020, when so much has been taken away.
Outside the sky is pinking up. A grandmother squeezing the cheek of a young child. Hope on the horizon. Stories to be written.
Wow, thanks for some writing David! You say things that I feel but can’t put into words and it’s uplifting.
Love and hope are just what we need now. Our bond (and the bond of our family) will help us find the sun amongst the clouds.
Inspiring! Can you package the, “Portions of my brain, long atrophied, have been set free.” I’ll buy some. Looking forward to 2021. 2020 has been a weird one. What’s your new job?
After ten years working with a different company, I’m now back working with Jonathan again. It’s invigorating and challenging … and I’m loving it. Hope all is well in Portland, David. I think of our trip out there in 2017 often.
And so life goes. As you, my life changed after 21 years in the Supermarket field where I had become the company’s Fix it guy. On my own a new door opened- unrealized talent, design, thereafter became my forte. Custom home design, building same. Store fronts, layouts, open space parks. More. Much more. I’m certain that your talents will prevail.
Grab hold! Enjoy the ride!
Thank you so much for the wonderful, inspiring words, Uncle Dick. Changes in life can be scary … no matter what our age! “Grab hold! Enjoy the ride!” What great advice!
David, your phrase “when so much has been taken away” is thought-provoking. When so much has been taken away we gain clarity. This clarity allows us to see sharply and fixate on what is important by eliminating the noise of many things. As a writer, you bring clarity through your observations and connections. As a family, we have come to know how friendship and simple connectedness can bridge the terrible emotional and social conditions of these days.
Have we emerged from the darkness? Not yet. Have we established a process to get us the light? We have. David, please continue to write to generate that spiritual glue that helps us to remain bonded together and mentally whole.
Thank you, Jack. It’s been months since I last posted, and I forgot that so much of the joy I get from it is waiting to read your responses. Looking forward to this Sunday’s weekly socially-distant breakfast!