Gifts

I didn't know it then, but lack of money when my Kids were small was, in its own way, a gift of time.  Hiring a sitter for four babies would have cost more than whatever wages I could have made and so I was able to be a stay-at-home mom.  Those years with my children were precious.

As they grew older, I began taking classes with an eye toward a profession and eventually went to work in medical records.  Work was really a pleasure; I got paid for doing something I truly enjoyed.  Those were busy, busy years, juggling a job and four teenagers (a job in itself).

Moving to Sacramento and remarried, I was again given a gift of time.  Going back to college was an opportunity to take all those classes that weren't included in a technical curriculum.  History, art and music appreciation, humanities, comparative religion, creative writing; I took 'em all and more.  I was having such a good time that I was devastated when City College said I had too many credits and had to move on, but it took that push to send me to State University and I graduated.  (I snuck back to City College for courses in sign language.)

Circumstances sent me back into the work force for a number of years.  Single again, working then was my saving grace, and I had a profession to fall back on.  Another gift of time came with an inheritance.  I took a year off and did all those things one says they would do if they only had the time.  I refinished furniture, made quilts, visited far-away friends, and took a trip to Europe.  I started a business and met Steve.

We eventually moved here to Farview where once more I have been given time to enjoy my animals and work of a different kind.  The point of all this, I suppose, is to encourage recognition of the importance of appreciating those periods of time in our lives for what they are:  gifts.

It's cooler today (insert smiley face here).