Monday, August 22, 2016

I'm No Angel & An Attitude of Gratititude

Today's post has three parts,  I'm No Angel, An Attitude of Gratitude & An Update

Part I
Recently, when discussing this blog with my wife, Kate,  she said,

" You don't have to make me out to be such an angel…"

" You are to me," I responded.

 Then she said, "but we argue.."

To which I said, " Every couple I know that is truly in love argues. It is healthy. When couples do not argue they generally split up.  One day, one of them decides that they have had enough and just leaves. Arguing from time to time helps us to avoid that."

To which she agreed.

This reminded me of one of my favorite songs & the fact that we all have a past and although many of you do not have one as checkered as mine,  I am sure that I could find a few skeletons in anyone's closet.

 And so I end the first part of this blog post with one of my favorite songs and least favorite videos!


Part II

One of my better qualities is that I am truly grateful for anything that anyone has ever done for me. Last week, however, I began to wonder if I had been doing a good job of expressing this. Therefore, I have decided to utilize this blog to thank people from time to time.

Amy Jacobus
In a very dark period of my life, I found myself  without a job, severance package spent and unemployment benefits gone. Just when I thought that I would not be able to pay my rent, Amy Jacobus lent me a hand. First, she asked me to help her out with a gig decorating Wynton Marsalis' apartment for Christmas. While I got the sense that she really did not need my help, I certainly needed the money. Then, she introduced me to some friends from a company that gave me a job with benefits.

I am not certain that I was even consciously aware of how close I was to being homeless. With the promise of a new job, however, I asked the landlord to accept the rent late, borrowed some money and I was on my feet again.

Thank you Amy!

Part III

For those of you who are interested, below is a photograph from my PDF Research Advocate training with doctors, PDF employees, researchers and fellow advocates.