Years ago, on a cool October night, I met a young Robert-Redford-looking cowboy in a smoky dance hall in Houston, Texas. I was an ordinary secretary by day and the girl singer for a popular country band by night. He was a cartoonist for the Houston Chronicle by day and a serious artist by night. He asked me to dance during one of our band breaks and the rest is history. I held on tight, knowing this was going to be the adventure that guided the rest of my life. And Lardy, what an adventure it's been!
We've lived all over the country; in ten states and countless small towns. In every community, we met wonderful, talented, genuine people who touched our lives and became life-long friends. Some are millionaires, some celebrities, but most are just salt-of-the-earth fine people doing what they love and making life as good as it can be, regardless of what the rest of the world thinks. And that's what makes us like-minded.
To subsidize our lifestyle, we've bought, renovated and re-sold 16 homes. Some were small renovations while others were complete gut jobs! We loved it, sore muscles, hammered fingers and all. Oddly enough, we discovered we're not bad at it. Only broke even one time.
So here we are in the prime of our life (to me every stage of life is prime if you want it to be) and we find ourselves staring another adventure in the face. After decidedly announcing that I was leaving the CEO/Executive Director world to pursue other interests, (like writing, opening a specialty coffee shop, rescuing and renovating abandoned furniture and becoming an estate sale junkie), an offer to take on another leadership role is on the table that could make me change my mind.
My passion has always been in helping others, the homeless, the abandoned or abused child, the unwed teenager, the homeless veteran. I was able to do a tiny bit of that as the CEO of a health clinic that served the indigent. But health care is changing and the bureacratic intrusion took a lot of the heart out of the process. And for me, it's all about heart. And the job offer is all about heart and helping children, the homeless, the poor, veterans and domestic violence victims. It's custom made for me. Really.
So, tomorrow we travel north to Granbury, Texas, to do a little real estate shopping, even though the very thought of packing boxes, dismantling book shelves and reaclimating pets makes my jaws clinch, my heart flutters a little at the thought of another chapter in our already adventurous book. A book I really do need to start writing because you know what they say, you can't make this sh** up!
