Hard and Heart Work, End of Life Woes, Angels and Demons, Leading by Example

“If I got rid of my demons, I’d lose my angels.”
— Tennessee Williams

Hi, how are you? Good morning; it’s supposed to be 82 and sunny today, a lovely fall day, that’s our world; I trust you to live in a beautiful place with beautiful weather.  As of this moment, I’m in Indiana; I’ll be here two more days before returning west. I headed up to Muncie yesterday; I stopped by our Indy office to check on our people, then ran a call with Mo Jo and Suh.  We are working on a significant renewal for January 1st; we can now work ahead, which is nice.

I met my daughter for lunch at the famous Miltons’ Family Diner in Albany, Indiana.  I had the breaded tenderloin; my daughter had an omelet, we were able to catch up.  She is a speech pathologist for a nursing home in Portland, Indiana.  She loves her work; she has ten patients, the average age is 90.

She explained to me that her work was hard and heart.  She shared that most of the staff at the facility had worked there a long time, they didn’t pay much attention to the clients; it fell to her to take an interest in her patients.  She shared a story of one man who loved his cats, but the photos were behind his view, so she took it upon herself to reframe them and place them on the wall he looks at daily.

He also loved his house, so she got on Google Earth and grabbed a photo of his house, laminated it, and gave it as a gift.  She said, “Dad, it’s the little things.”  She asked me to use my brain; what things could her residents do to keep their minds active?  Most are woken up in the morning, dressed, put in a wheelchair; they sit in their room until breakfast, eat, and then repeat for lunch and dinner.  I asked about common areas and activities; she shared most of the population sit in their rooms being trained by staff after COVID.

Imagine living 95 years, and your end-of-life experience is one of staring at a wall, in a wheelchair, waiting until it’s your time to pass over the golden rainbow.  It’s sad; it hurt my heart to hear her tales, but she is a light in their life; I’ll take that as my one takeaway.  My daughter, you see, is an angel.

I left there and headed to see my parents; my father was at a business meeting, yes Dad still goes to his weekly business meeting.   My parent’s neighbor was out doing some yard work for them; Shannon is also an angel.  If you look around, there are angels everywhere.  I sat with my mom and caught up; she worked at the church helping with the annual “garage sale.”  They also run a food pantry at the church; she’s active in both offerings.  She was asked by my friend Adrain to read to her kids at the elementary school; she said, “she’s the only one that asks anymore.” My mother, at 82, is a retired librarian and loves to read to the kids; I think my mom might be an angel.

I left there and headed to see my friend Alan; we caught up on the news, another friend Jack stopped by, we sat as if we were in an old-time barbershop and shook our heads at the state of our world.  I left there and headed to see my son; I sent him a text to see when he would get home, he said, “sorry pops, going to be a late night.”  So I headed home, taking Interstate 70.  Here’s a pro tip, if in Indiana, do not take Interstate 70; my standard 30-minute drive was 2 hours; I did get to listen to the book Fortitude by Dan Crenshaw, a strong recommendation for my friends with reason.

I got home, kissed my wife, and then ran a call with my other daughter; we were tasked with creating a risk management program for a large conidium complex in a ski town in Colorado; her work is excellent; I’m very proud of all my kids. After that, my wife made some Mexican food; we settled in watching a mindless movie and then got to bed early.

I slept 9 hours, woke up to my wife’s alarm.  She’s got an early morning appointment, I’ve got our monthly sales meeting to run, then I’m having lunch with one of my best friends, then finishing up a project before meeting a gaggle of Indy folks at a meet-up.  After that, I’m scheduled to head home and go out with our neighbors to catch up on the last few weeks.

The labor pool is thin, my mom shared a story about our cousins going to a local burger joint, and after sitting one hour waiting on their food, my cousin asked the cook, how long do you think it will be before we get our food.  The answer “I don’t know?”  Remember when you could go to a restaurant, order your food, get it promptly and then be on your way, we are going to have to learn patience in this new world order.  I don’t blame the restaurant owners; I feel their pain; maybe people will return to work soon, perilous times.

We’ll it’s 4:58 a.m. MT and 6:58 a.m. ET, I’ve acclimated back to ET, finally.  It took me a couple more days this time, both my wife and I have been a little tired this trip, not sure if we are just getting old or these colds have taxed our systems. I hope these words find you in a good spot.  I got a note from a friend thanking me for yesterday’s offering, I thought it was bland, but she took it to heart; I never know how these words will land on friends, mothers, brothers, or others.  I wish you a great day, that is always my plan, lead by example, do the work, be kind, that is my life, how is yours?

“If I got rid of my demons, I’d lose my angels.”
— Tennessee Williams