Learning is a treasure that will follow its owner everywhere. ~ Chinese Proverb

Do we ever stop learning? Do we ever throw down the pencil, rip up the paper, toss it in to the garbage and say, "Enough already!"

As a little girl, with three brothers, I was a major tomboy. I had to be, not only to survive but also to be included in everything. Our neighborhood sorely lacked girls outside of myself, my friend Angie, and Ruthie...but Ruthie wasn't really one to come outside and play so we won't count her. Angie was a little more girly-girly than I was but she quite often followed my lead. We'd have our afternoons of hauling all of our Barbie stash out under the cherry tree in her yard and play dolls for hours, but quite often you'd find us playing baseball with the boys in Dr. Moore's parking lot, "War" in the Rambo's back field using real dirt clods for hand grenades. It was a toss-up most nites as to who was the dirtiest, myself or my brothers, when we'd come in at bedtime.

I'm left-handed but that didn't discourage my brothers from teaching me how to throw like a guy. I could throw a perfect spiral with a football. I was the girl 'star' in my class at kick ball. But I was a great pitcher. I perfected a killer curve ball. I threw hard, I threw fast, and I was deadly accurate. And I practiced and practiced. And practiced some more.

My dad taught me a lot of life strategies as a child that have worked well for me all of my life. Never back down. Never take a back seat to anyone. Being a girl isn't an excuse. You can do anything you set your mind to. Don't give up. No matter what kind of ball Life pitched at him he never struck out. He had a marvelous attititude. If you asked him how he liked his job, even if he detested it, he'd tell you, "Well, it's the only job I've got right now and I'm glad for that." He was generous. He was good-hearted.

So...I guess you could say I'm a chip off the old block. I try hard to see the glass half full. Dear Hubby tells me I'm about as easy-going as easy-going can be. After 36 years with me, he ought to know! I like to think I'm generous and good-hearted. I really do enjoy life.

I'm hoping all of this will hold me steady in the days to come. I'm hoping when I come across something I don't know the answer to, that I have no idea how I'm going to come to terms with, I'll dig deep into Dad's treasure trough of sound advice and put what I find there to good use. This is not going to be a time in my life when it's ok to falter, ok to back down, ok to give in and give up. This is a time when I need to hunker down and plan strategy. Someone is depending on me. I can not and will not fail them