Tonight I am so tired I can hardly see straight. Last night I had a hard time getting to sleep, and as often happens that meant that I was tireder today than I’m comfortable being. The 90-minute commute home–part of which was during rain and fog–was as tiring as usual. It was nice in the sense that I had company for the trip: my daughter came with me to work today. It was nice to have the company for the drive home, we listened to old school R&B music and sang along to keep ourselves from acknowledging how tired we were. Once again, traveling mercies were with me and we arrived home safe and sound. I do not take this for granted; I am grateful every time I back into my driveway at home.
This is one of those nights when I look at the blinking cursor trying to sort through the random thoughts in my head, filter through the various ideas floating around in there and hope that something coherent comes out onto the screen. I’m not sure I’m feeing terribly confident about that. So I will offer simple gratitude and then tuck myself into bed.
I am grateful for the opportunity I had today to take my daughter with me to work. I have taken her with me many times over the years; as a child she accompanied me to my various offices at the universities I worked for. She came with me to meetings, to classes and presentations. She interacted with my students and coworkers, hung out at university farms, classrooms, cafeterias and offices. She had a well-rounded exposure to college campuses and today she visited with me as a first year graduate student pursuing a degree and a career working in higher education. It has been fun to watch her interest grow and to listen to her ideas and the things she’s learning about higher education, student development and all kinds of cool things I never studied. I’m looking forward to learning from her as she continues in the field.
It’s an interesting (and good) feeling to see the positive impact some aspect of my life has had on each of my children. As a youngster my son was always interested in all things musical. He showed interest and aptitude in all kinds of instruments and over the years I’ve done my best to foster this love by investing in all kinds of musical equipment over the years. He has become a very talented and skilled multi-instrument musician. One of these days he’ll hit it big with his music. He, my daughter and I played together when they were younger. It is one wonderful gift and pastime we each share: Michal a talented singer-songwriter in her own right and Jared not only playing instruments but recording complex pieces using his computer, piano, guitar and an assortment of microphones and other equipment. While I might not win awards for my excellence in parenting, I did a few things right, particularly in encouraging them to pursue their passions. One of these days, that will more than pay off for them.
I am looking forward to the upcoming holiday break that starts on Friday. I’ll be off work for about two weeks. I feel like I’ve been going nonstop for the past few months, so the break will be much appreciated. I am grateful to be working, and will be grateful for the break to spend some quality time with my daughter and my sisters. Somewhere in there I hope to work in a little music. For tonight, however, I’m turning in so I can be more present at work tomorrow. May it be so.
