Fun Crazy Week

This past week started off bittersweet, but actually went on to be a lot of fun, and a great week of catching up, recharging, and getting inspired to continue with this amazing, but challenging job in front of me. The funeral for my sweet friend's dad was last weekend. It was a beautiful service, and a chance for many of us to catch up who had not seen each other in a number of years. Saturday evening, Dyke, Aaron, Julie, Cathy, and I all met for drinks and to look over some OLD pictures from back in the day. It was a really wonderful time and so good to see these people again. They were such a huge part of my childhood/teenage years, and it brought back many good memories.

On Tuesday, Matt Kerner, Tim Smith, Angela Robinett and I all jetted off to South Bend, Indiana for the annual Innovate conference at GCC. It was awesome, as expected, and it was also GREAT to just relax and laugh with these 3 other crazy people who I adore. We had some funny experiences (Tim and I stuck on the runway in Chicago for an hour and a half with a guy from Holland and a priest...you had to be there; and getting lost a million times with Kerner who supposedly has the "spiritual gift" of direction). I missed Darrell and the kids, but it just felt good to not be responsible for anyone other than myself for a few days.

Now it's back to work, but I'm excited to see what's in store. It feels like things around here (Schweitzer) are on the brink of change....in a good way. I feel very blessed to be here.

Another Day...

Well...today was the day. The father of one of my closest childhood/teenage friends passed away. He was diagnosed just a few months ago with a very aggressive cancer, and although they tried a couple of attempts at treatment, it was quickly obvious that nothing was going to achieve any kind of a cure. My friend, Alek, was in town a little over week ago to see his dad, and we met for a drink. I hadn't seen him in probably 15+ years, although I had seen his parents fairly regularly over the years. The whole thing has really thrown me into the past. I have vivid memories of spending time at the Webster house...especially on snow days when my mom was at work and his mom was at home. I remember playing in the snow for hours and then coming in to warm up and his mom making hot chocolate for us. I can remember being there when his dad would come home from work, and he always just included me as though I were a part of their family (and I craved being a part of a "normal" family like that when I was a kid). Then there were all the times when we were in high school, and I would spend hours talking to Alek on the phone or hanging out at his house. He was like a brother to me, and his parents felt like family to me too. It's just so strange to think about his dad being gone. It just reminds me of how time is passing so quickly, and how this is the kind of stuff all of us have to face. I'm not quite sure what all of the lessons have been in this crazy, difficult year of being 39, but I hope soon I can look at all of this and make some kind of sense out of it, or at least some kind of peace.