"Like sand through the hourglass, these are the days of our lives."
Not only have the last four months faded away like sand through an hourglass, it also passed very much like a cheesy, unbelievable, day-time soap opera. Suffice to say, I would rather not repeat them anytime soon. Let's recap, shall we?
New job, new place to live, selling current new house, new work drama, old work drama, sick wife, sick kids, sick me, more drama, sick relatives, surgery, drama, drama, drama, and then there's the kicker - this is not a dream; it's my real life.
Not only have the last four months faded away like sand through an hourglass, it also passed very much like a cheesy, unbelievable, day-time soap opera. Suffice to say, I would rather not repeat them anytime soon. Let's recap, shall we?
New job, new place to live, selling current new house, new work drama, old work drama, sick wife, sick kids, sick me, more drama, sick relatives, surgery, drama, drama, drama, and then there's the kicker - this is not a dream; it's my real life.
There are more details available on the Work Blog, if you are the type of person that cares more about the professional side of this issue. However, the personal side is always the toughest, isn't it? Some people don't care so much about their families. I understand how that happens to people, but it's not me. I would much rather that my girls are all happy and content than for me to enjoy such pleasures in spite of them.
In late-May I applied for a position with Polk State College. I had some trepidation about it, but several colleagues convinced me that I should at least give it a try. Now I've wanted to administer a collegiate aviation program since I attended Middle Tennessee State University as an undergrad. It got in my blood, and I love it. With this though, I honestly didn't see it working out for me. I was asked to interview for the position, which I did expect because I knew someone inside the process. I was stunned when the interview went so well. It was the best interview I've ever given. What's more though, I loved it. Just talking about the ideas I had for improving pilot training and seeing energetic agreement with my vision stoked a fire that I had all but forgotten about. A month later, I was offered the position.
So there's the background. Personally (meaning me), it was a huge accomplishment. When I considered what it would do to my family though, it really gave me pause. We built our perfect house a year ago. We would be leaving that, all of our great friends, and uprooting our young kids into an entirely different area of the state. The benefits and the future possibilities of moving to the educational aspect of aviation are high, but the risk of taking on a brand new program and building it from the ground up is a bit overwhelming. Moreover, I would be separate from my wife and young kids until our house sold, meaning I would really only see them on Saturday and part of Sunday each week.
In the end, the immediate sacrifice we all have to make is outdone by the future reward, or at least I hope that it is. I've pinned our entire livelihood on it. Carrying the weight of that is tough, and it's only possible because my girls are awesome.
Beyond just the job though, I've had serious health issues that almost landed me in the hospital again. Everyone in the family has been sick with a nasty cold. The wife is dealing with an infection that won't go away. My grandfather has lost vision in one eye and has to have surgery. My father-in-law has some serious gut issues but just found out he has to have immediate quadruple bypass surgery. As I said, it's been a rough four months.
There's no guarantee life is going to be easy. In fact, it should be hard from time to time. Otherwise, we never learn how great we actually have it, and we never learn how to lean on the right people. There's a tough road ahead for us as a family, but we're going swim through it because we are a family. We stick together, and we can't be stopped!
In late-May I applied for a position with Polk State College. I had some trepidation about it, but several colleagues convinced me that I should at least give it a try. Now I've wanted to administer a collegiate aviation program since I attended Middle Tennessee State University as an undergrad. It got in my blood, and I love it. With this though, I honestly didn't see it working out for me. I was asked to interview for the position, which I did expect because I knew someone inside the process. I was stunned when the interview went so well. It was the best interview I've ever given. What's more though, I loved it. Just talking about the ideas I had for improving pilot training and seeing energetic agreement with my vision stoked a fire that I had all but forgotten about. A month later, I was offered the position.
So there's the background. Personally (meaning me), it was a huge accomplishment. When I considered what it would do to my family though, it really gave me pause. We built our perfect house a year ago. We would be leaving that, all of our great friends, and uprooting our young kids into an entirely different area of the state. The benefits and the future possibilities of moving to the educational aspect of aviation are high, but the risk of taking on a brand new program and building it from the ground up is a bit overwhelming. Moreover, I would be separate from my wife and young kids until our house sold, meaning I would really only see them on Saturday and part of Sunday each week.
In the end, the immediate sacrifice we all have to make is outdone by the future reward, or at least I hope that it is. I've pinned our entire livelihood on it. Carrying the weight of that is tough, and it's only possible because my girls are awesome.
Beyond just the job though, I've had serious health issues that almost landed me in the hospital again. Everyone in the family has been sick with a nasty cold. The wife is dealing with an infection that won't go away. My grandfather has lost vision in one eye and has to have surgery. My father-in-law has some serious gut issues but just found out he has to have immediate quadruple bypass surgery. As I said, it's been a rough four months.
There's no guarantee life is going to be easy. In fact, it should be hard from time to time. Otherwise, we never learn how great we actually have it, and we never learn how to lean on the right people. There's a tough road ahead for us as a family, but we're going swim through it because we are a family. We stick together, and we can't be stopped!
