Disney Leadership Keynote Speaker
Five daily blogs about life's 5 big choices on five interconnected sites.
Do you find it intriguing that as we get older we spend less and less time, maybe even no time, on some of the most basic, fundamental essentials?
Like exercise.
Like art.
Like experimentation.
Last night, returning from a three-day trip, we had Cooper in our front yard. Four children in the yard across the street came running over.
Walking would have only cost them 10-15 seconds more.
Today’s post at Lane 8 should only take 10-15 seconds to read.
“No great deed, private or public, has ever been undertaken in a bliss of certainty.”
– Leon Wieseltier
This is something that we all need to grasp. Our lofty, childhood dreams to do good and noble work may never be reborn in midlife, because Leon is right.
Kids rarely walk from one thing to another. Why did we stop running everywhere?
“Sandwiches”, by Lorie Sheffer.
“When we were kids, did you ever think we would grow up to become sandwiches, because that’s what we are,” my friend told me.
The Sandwich Generation is the term used to describe us. There are several types on the menu, too.
The Traditional: Those of us who are caring for aging parents as well as our own children who are still living at home.
The Club: Those in their 50s and 60s who are caring for aging parents, their own adult children and their grandchildren. Or people in their 30s and 40s who are caring for their own young children, parents and grandparents.
Open Faced: Anyone involved in elder care.
According to a Pew Research Poll, 1 in 8 American’s aged 40 – 60 is involved in elder-care.
I thought of this when I sat in at my father’s bedside and my daughter brought my grandson in for a visit. Up until June of this year Dad was very independent. It was sometimes difficult to get in touch with my parents because they were always out doing something. Since the day he was born, I cared for my grandson while his parents worked and I drove to his house every day to get him off of the school bus when he started school. He’s 10 now and he is used to seeing me almost every day. “I miss you. When can we have a sleepover?” he asked me. My daughter has a more flexible work schedule now, so I am trying to spend as much time with Dad as I can. I miss my grandson horribly. While neither my father nor grandson lives with me, I spend tremendous amounts of time with them. I miss my adult son, who lives 2 hours away and is a 4th year medical student. Needless to say, he doesn’t have much extra time to come home, though he and his wife do try to squeeze in a trip as often as possible. I want to go to Philadelphia for the day and visit them and see their new house. We text one another and chat on the phone regularly, but those things don’t replace a hug. I hate to miss a day of visiting Dad, so my husband and I have not left the area this summer.
And so it goes. The Life of a Sandwich. It’s a familiar story. The characters differ, the setting and circumstances are not quite the same, but the core of the story remains. It is stressful and it is demanding and it is draining. But at the heart of it, there are people in our lives for whom we feel a deep love and sense of commitment.
(Lane 8 blog)
Stormy weather. Most of the time we get advanced notice. Earthquakes, tornadoes and flash floods are exceptions.
Every year in Florida and all along the southern region, we are advised to check our hurricane preparedness.
There really is no excuse for not being prepared.
Well there are a ton of excuses. I get that.
Same with midlife.
It’s stormy weather for many people.
We should see it coming, and maybe we do. But, so predictably, we ignore it.
Looking forward to the tree service coming this morning to provide a “hurricane cut” for 30 palm trees.
(next blog)
Photo from yesterday, the first day of our summer vacation at Disney World. There is something magical about midlife.
There are certain privileges one gets glimpses of from spending a lifetime doing good and decent work.
Have you ever been one of the first Guests inside the Magic Kingdom?