Blessings....

As I sit at my computer and prepare for my lectures on individual's interpretations of health, illness and disease and individual's responses to illness and treatment -- I am drawn back to stories I read in Rachel Naomi Remen's book "My Grandfather's Blessings". The stories that she tells -- hers, her patients -- remind me of how much I have truly been blessed.

Maybe it's the between stage -- you know the one that overlaps with the beginning of a new quarter and a new class of students (class of 2013) and with graduation for the class of 2010. Or maybe it's the being in awe of what I see in my new students -- how they are sharing themselves by creating word clouds (www.wordle.net) and being engaged in class. And then there is the pride, joy and sadness I feel for the class of 2010 graduates as they begin the next part of their journey. I will miss seeing them around campus. In between -- I have the classes of 2011 and 2012 -- students who continue to surprise me by sharing parts of their lives with me!

Then I have my friends from work and church who inspire me and make me realize how truly blessed I am. Any way you look at it -- life is a blessing.