Sharing: TIME GOES BY "Choosing a Life - Or Letting It Happen"

I recall sharing one of Ronni's posts here previously. This one is particularly poignant.

Reflecting on the life I have lived is not something I have much dwelled upon during these several years of living with terminal cancer and COPD. I've always been more of a now person than a then one. Not that... Related Stories Let's You and Me Have a ...

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Having trouble viewing this email? View it in a browser. Choosing a Life – Or Letting It Happen Reflecting on the life I have lived is not something I have much dwelled upon during these several years of living with terminal cancer and COPD. I've always been more of a now person than a then one. Not that I don't remember things or that they don't come to mind or up for discussion. But mostly, now is more compelling for me. Perhaps it was true for you, too – that in school, there were two or three or four or so classmates who from a young age knew exactly what they wanted to be when they grew up and lo - they actually did that, doctor, lawyer, auto mechanic, whatever they fancied. But not me. I had no earthly idea what I would do when I grew up – even when I grew up. All I knew from my lower middle-class family was that it was up to me. Maybe it was not said quite out loud but the idea instilled was that my parents had gotten me to working age and now I had to follow through to support myself. Looking back, my mother was right about insisting I take typing class in high school and that kept me employed for the several years it took until a career trajectory began to come into view. (An overview of my career is recounted here.) Even though at the time I believed I was choosing this job, rejecting that one, making a lateral change for better pay, location, whatever, sometimes it has felt like someone or something else was making the decision. It is rather amazing the number of interesting jobs that dropped into my lap over the years from unexpected telephone calls, even from strangers once or twice who had heard of me from someone and thought we should talk about working together. Not to go all woo-woo on you but now and then I have wondered if I really chose the men or the friends and others in my life. Did someone or something direct all this? There are people who believe such things. Without going down the free will rabbit hole, so speaking of this in the most prosaic sense, I have felt at times over the years that I have had nothing to do with my life, that it was written down before I got here and I'm just following the script. At nearly 80 years into my life now, it is still kind of fun to ponder such notions, but there is a growing sense inside me, too, that I have arrived somewhere – that one way or another I am coming to enough. No more striving, just accepting. But that imperative to survive I mentioned the other day is still deep and strong. My god, it does hang on; illness doesn't affect that. And there is still a great joy in living each day – well, each good one. And here is how part of that goes: Many years ago, I worked for a woman I didn't like much. She didn't like me either. But we were both smart, good at our jobs and respected one another so it worked out. One day I was surprised to learn that she was a boxing fan, that her father had taken her to all the matches he attended in their town when she was a kid and it had stuck with her. Me? I blurted out rudely that I couldn't think of any more boring way to spend an evening. And then she said to me, "Ronni, everything is interesting if you pay attention." Since then, that piece of news has never failed me. Choosing my life? Pre-ordained life? That I am right on script during this final chapter? Or am I just getting weird in the late days of my predicament? What matters is that all of it is just as interesting as everything else has been since JoAnn explained it to me. Related Stories Let's You and Me Have a Bit of a Chat Today When Bad Days Turn Good – Part 2 When Bad Days Turn Good – Part 1

What happened Friday?

There were no updates here on Friday due to an outage by Google's Blogger platform. Items were queued to post but they were not posted. I did not have access to make any updates.

The Blogger system managed to keep the site up and available so any visitors here were able to read the posts and follow the links but wouldn't have been able to comment.

For those who also subscribe to the Facebook group, I was able to provide an update there. If you are not yet subscribed on Facebook, you may want to consider joining the group. There tends to be less posts than those shown daily here. There also tends to be more conversation around some of the posts.

If you follow me on Twitter, you would have seen the update:

Blogger will be in read-only mode while we resolve some maintenance issues. Sorry for the inconvenience.http://j.mp/jGNkkr

As I re-read the update, would you have known that Blogger meant Franklin Matters? Probably not. I'll need to do better next time.

The official word from Blogger on what happened can be found here:
http://buzz.blogger.com/2011/05/blogger-is-back.html




Franklin, MA

Attention: Franklin Area Bloggers - media makers

The listing of Franklin Area bloggers is continuing to grow. Have you looked at the section along the far right column? There are now 36 blogs writing something about Franklin or doing business based in Franklin. From the School Committee to the Police Association, Cub Scouts to Dr VanRoon, photographers to humorists; the variety is quite good to see.

There is a group of media makers that gathers each month in downtown Attleboro, at Morin's Diner. It is informal and quite informational! A form of networking event and focused on sharing what each is doing. The opportunities for learning from one another and collaborating with one another are there.

Sunday at 10:00 AM won't be the best time for some of the area bloggers. But if you are interested in getting an event like this, in Franklin, and at a more convenient time, let me know. Maybe a Monday evening at a local restaurant would work better. Maybe another evening would be better, or maybe a Saturday morning. Let's see if (1) there is interest, and (2) we can get a number together to make it worthwhile!

If you can make it Sunday to see what it is like, you can register (for free) on Eventbrite http://snemm.eventbrite.com/

If you can't make it Sunday and are interested in doing something local, please leave a comment or send me an email.



Franklin, MA

Calling all media makers!

Local bloggers, photographers, writers; we are all media makers. Let's get together to share and learn from each other on what we do and how we accomplish it. The Southern New England Media Makers are gathering Sunday, October 17th at Morin's Diner in Attleboro.

You can respond via the Facebook page here:
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=155543284473392

Or leave a comment or email me.



Franklin, MA

Poll Issue update

Sent to you by Steve Sherlock via Google Reader:

via Known Issues for Blogger by brett wiltshire on 6/16/10

Many users are reporting that poll gadgets are failing to render, displaying a 'Not Found' message. We're investigating the issue and will post a reply as soon as we have more information to share.

Thanks for your patience.

Things you can do from here:

• Subscribe to Known Issues for Blogger using Google Reader
• Get started using Google Reader to easily keep up with all your favorite sites

Bottom line: I'll wait until it is fixed and then enable it. The poll will be open for at least a week to ensure appropriate response time.

Franklin Blogger: Martinator's Bicycling Blog

The Hitchhiker Team found Martinator's blog in January. Martin lives here in Franklin and writes of himself:

I am a Web Designer. Actually, I am more on the interface coding side of web design. I like to bike and ski, though I haven't skied in quite a while. I am also a gadget freak and I try to incorporate technology into everything I do.

If you are interested in bike riding, this is one site to check out regularly.

Franklin Blogger: Susan Speers

Susan Speers writes:

Are you due to get a tax refund or an "economic stimulus rebate" this spring? Why not spend it on energy-saving improvements or other steps to reduce your carbon footprint? The Bush rebate of $1,200 for a working couple might not pay all the cost of a solar-powered hot water system but it would go a long way for less intensive, smaller-ticket items! A few ideas for the typical Massachusetts home:

Click through to read if one of the dozen ideas she lists would be something you could do.

Franklin Blogger: Model trains, his passion

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Model railroads are Mason's passion

By Heather McCarron/Daily News staff

Although he was just 4 years old at the time, Scott Mason clearly remembers the first train set he ever received — 1950s vintage, used Lionel trains given to him for Christmas by a family friend.

Read the full article here
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Scott Mason's website can be found here