Paul's Heart

Life As A Dad, And A Survivor

Archive for the category “Family and Friends”

Waking Up Late


Normally in my house, there is no such thing as sleeping in.  With a seven and nine-year old who have the internal clocks of farmer Brown’s roosters, on a rare day off from work, I am lucky to get passed six in the morning.  My daughters know there is a lot that we can do in a day, and they do not want to waste a minute of that time.  But as many parents know, let it be a school day and you have to drag children out of the beds, still clinging to their bedspreads as you load them onto the school bus.  Except today.

It happens once every so many years, I woke up late this morning.  But instead of just soaking in the “why” and enjoying it, I jumped into hyper mode, blowing right passed my daughters who were in awe of the mid-March snowfall, clearly anticipating a snow day off from school, maybe which would translate into a day off for Daddy from work.

Unfortunately, that is not how the day went.  Much like the expression, “woke up on the wrong side of the bed,” starting off my day, which is fairly routine (I could do it in my sleep), there are things that I do naturally and planned.  I skipped past morning meds, school backpack prep, pet feeding, and lunch preparation as I raced to get to work before being late.  I ended up late anyway, but feel from the harried state, set in motion a chain of events today that just like my morning began, sped and spiraled out of control.

Oh sure, things happen.  My waking up late in the morning has no more an effect on events of a day, any more than I can control the sun rise in the morning.  But my reactions to everything I am certain would have been different.  Additional work duties to an already tardy start of the work day, only kept me behind on my work load.  The quick pace emotionally left me concerned that I was not concentrating enough to make sure the rest of my evening would go as planned, nor would it.  I was contacted about a work issue, and then additional news came about someone close to me dealing with cancer waiting on the start of treatment that I was not prepared for.  Nothing like a little late evening politics to round out the night, and I am ready to start off tomorrow morning, on time, and a little slower of a pace.

Oh Hell, who am I kidding?

Marathon Weekend 3/17/13


I have been waiting for this weekend for two years.  A couple of years ago, I ran for our local school board, and fell short of election by less than two hundred votes, as did two of my running mates.  The good news is that two other of my running mates did win election.

School board elections in the state of Pennsylvania are held in the odd year elections.  Unfortunately, too many people do not see the need for voting during these off-years.  But the truth is, school board elections could not be any more important.

As a parent with two children attending public schools in our district, I have seen first hand the decisions made by our current board and district administration.  I cannot fathom how we expect to prepare our children for the future, when all we do is eliminate even some of the most basic of education tools.  Countless stories tell of obesity linked to overweight children.  The arts and music have a direct impact on a child’s learning abilities.

As a homeowner, and a taxpayer, of course I care what happens in our district.  The value of the district directly affects the value of my home.

Campaigning takes a lot of time and commitment.  I am not a fly-by-night candidate.  Along with two of my running mates from two years ago, we stayed involved with school district meetings and information.  We have spent the last two years learning more how the district operates.  Even better, we have a head start, a better idea of what it will take to win this time around.

Everyone will be reminded by the incumbents that this is a volunteer position, as if that is supposed to be a major qualification.  The fact is, I know it is a volunteer position.  And Tina and Alex and I have been volunteering for the last two years, building up knowledge and experience.  And even harder than being a volunteer position, is the amount of time that is spent away from my family, away from my daughters.  but I am doing this for them.

I hold a regular forty-hour week job, and a lot of my evenings are spent attending meetings.  And starting this weekend, that will increase.  But then there is also the campaigning that must be done.  Yesterday was a full slate of candidate photos in the morning, lunch and strategizing, and then attending another candidate in another local election.  That is good publicity for her, and for us.

Today, we officially kicked off our campaign.  We held a fundraiser and Meet ‘N’ Greet.  For me, the fundraising is secondary, because I believe that when a person takes the time to get to know me, they know that everything that I will campaign on, is from the heart, sincere.

Tomorrow I return to normal life, for at least part of the day.  In the evening, I will put my campaign shoes back on.

Survivor’s Guilt


I am still working on some new posts and juggling several other issues at the current time, but here is a special publication called Bridges.  It is a newsletter supported through Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.  My article is about cancer survivor’s guilt and can be found through the link below, under Spring 2013, on page 4.  If you scan the other editions, you will find another article I wrote two years ago.

http://www.mskcc.org/cancer-care/survivorship/newsletter-survivors

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