Hey there Everyone – I know I write the funny, but on the Anderle team, I’m usually the ponderer. I’m filling in for YTT today and instead of a list of what’s coming next (there’s a lot), how about a shout out for teachers, and a reminder to keep going?
I grew up poor but was able to get a great education. Dad, who was a minister with five kids, managed to find a scholarship for female descendants of Civil War soldiers who lost their land in the war. He sealed it by also figuring out how he was a distant cousin of the administrator for the fund. The man was always thinking. Not having money makes you work the angles.
That great education gave me a chance at something better. It gave me choices and it made me a writer. Mrs. Elizabeth Fuller at St. Agnes School, who may us read Chaucer in the old English and stand whenever she entered or left the room, also encouraged me to write. She was the first cheerleader in my life. Since then, there have been a lot and in tough moments they each made all the difference between going forward or giving up.
Today, I do my best to give back that gift as often as possible. To encourage talent or a dream with kindness, an opportunity and a willingness to just listen without judgment or ‘shoulds’. Hate the shoulds. If you need encouragement today, remember I’m a 7x cancer survivor who lost everything during the Great Recession, and wrote books for 30 years with great praise and no money. I can also work an angle like a pro. Now, I’m sitting in my dream house, cancer free with the good dog, Lois Lane, and the sweet dog, Leela, who likes to sleep late. Just keep going, I believe in you. Happy Tuesday everyone.