I read these words attributed to the author Reynolds Price, when he was in his thirties; "This is it. I'm now the person I'm likely to be...from here to the end."
"Wow", I thought, "Could that even be true?" For most of us, so much changes over the next 40 to 50 decades. For some, including Price, devastating events change our lives in dramatic, unforseen ways. There could be great joys, or opportunities that open up an entire new world. For many of the young adults in this CNY town, at 30, they have done almost nothing other than attending school. Life, real life, has hardly made a mark on them yet.
See the girl in the picture? She is a young farm woman with two preschool daughters, two teenage stepsons, a husband, a barn full of cows, and an off farm job. This relaxed moment is at Vacation Bible School, which she teaches while on vacation from her off farm job. What you can't see in the picture is our two girls dressed as honey bees. The VBS offering is going to Heiffer Project to buy hives of bees for needy families.
What I remember clearly from these times is how, about Wednesday, I would volunteer for all kinds of things, not realizing that my energetic feelings were the result of several full nights of sleep in a row. By Friday I would be having panic attacks at the idea of returning to my 3am job. In February of this year, overwhelmed with physical work, and lack of sleep, it was all I could do to NOT commit suicide.
"Wow", I thought, "Could that even be true?" For most of us, so much changes over the next 40 to 50 decades. For some, including Price, devastating events change our lives in dramatic, unforseen ways. There could be great joys, or opportunities that open up an entire new world. For many of the young adults in this CNY town, at 30, they have done almost nothing other than attending school. Life, real life, has hardly made a mark on them yet.
So I began to wonder. Who was I at 30, and where am I now 3 decades later?
What I remember clearly from these times is how, about Wednesday, I would volunteer for all kinds of things, not realizing that my energetic feelings were the result of several full nights of sleep in a row. By Friday I would be having panic attacks at the idea of returning to my 3am job. In February of this year, overwhelmed with physical work, and lack of sleep, it was all I could do to NOT commit suicide.
