After 17 years of formal education, numerous certificates of accomplishment in business, 35 years of successful sales and sales management experience, I now put cookies and crackers on the shelves of grocery stores. I am blessed. I do have a place to go in the morning...and on Wednesdays I'm on Redbud road in Calhoun, Georgia!
I always wanted, someday, to try something "different." I was somewhat hoping it would be when I turned sixty-five, but Novartis cut that short by a couple of years. Ellen is now the major breadwinner of the family and probably for the first time since we've been married, I (we) notice a difference in our ages. Ellen is eight years younger than me, but that fact has never once been an issue (except when it comes to some music "Remember that song? No. I was four years old!) Retirement, or the prospect of retirement, has entered my mind. I have no intention of not working, but the thought of dabbling and putzing around the house doing different projects has entered my mind. I'll probably work at the pace I do now (God willing) until I'm sixty-five or six. Then I'll reboot - if Ellen, the breadwinner, will allow me!
There are too many things to write about at one sitting about my career, but I will start at the end and say this - family comes first. I didn't always feel this way, but I certainly have since the cancer scare of around 16 years ago. When I had those jobs that we all sometimes love, I found myself totally involved. There were times (years) of very intense dedication to the task. In those cases, I travelled a great deal, both domestically and internationally, and dedicated long hours to my job. Unfortunately, many of those years were when our children were very small and Ellen was left alone, at home (In Idaho), to handle the all important task of raising the children AND working. My (our) scare changed priorities in less than one minute...sixty seconds...or at least until I stopped crying in the doctor's office. In a very undramatic action, a switch was thrown and all that had motivated me in the past disappeared. To jump to the end of my bout with cancer, my left kidney was removed, and for reasons that make a person believe in miracles, the outcome was the best it could be. No chemo, no radiation, no anything. I was told I was the luckiest man in the world. I took that to heart and refocused my entire being on my family. I would say that the most difficult part of the entire experience was refocusing my efforts at work. The drive that was so much part of my make-up was gone, or certainly reduced. Only a fool would say that money is not important because it is, but suddenly making money for someone else didn't have the same meaning to me as it did before. The mainstream elements of the corporate world were no longer part of my life. In fact, they were not even in the top ten list of things that were important to me.
Do I get upset, regretful, or anxious from time to time now? Sure, but it doesn't take too long to remember that just waking up this morning and seeing my wonderful wife lying next to me is one of the greatest gifts I have, and have ever had. In fact, just waking up is a blessing.
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