Here I am half-way through the fall semester and knock-on-wood, everything is going relatively smooth. The students are energetic, engaging, and the time is ‘flying’ by.
Personally, the career is moving forward. I have been ‘talking’ for some time now about getting a web site up and running. Seemingly ‘good’ excuses have been greatly delaying this enterprise. Time is now; even if it is a rudimentary one just to get it going. My private practice has been growing and expanding, and there is the possibility of a regular radio show not too far off in the near future. Life is good.
Both my sons moved out at the beginning of the fall (yea! the water bill dropped by more than 50%!, lol). I have heard from friends that have gone through this phase of life that this can be a relationship ‘buster’ for many couples. The kids are gone, now where do we direct our energies? Many couples had not maintained an intimate relationship during those years; everything was for the ‘kids.’
I am very fortunate. Some evenings when Yvette and I are alone at home we just look at each other and start laughing. We don’t know why, we just do it. Don’t get me wrong, we love our boys. It is just that it has been so long since we only had to answer to each other. They are still in our lives, live close by, and drop in for dinner a few times a week. Sunday is game day with the boys and their friends (our ‘other’ kids) dropping in to watch the game – Good Time. Yvette loves cooking for the ‘crew’ and we all hang-out together. Nice, Really Nice.
Last week I went down to Connecticut to see my sister whose health is failing. I always feel strange returning to my old home town. I never returned to live there once I started college in Massachusetts (was there for 18 years – have been in Boston for the past 38 years).
It is either Stephanie Brown or Claudia Black; both excellent writers on the alcoholic/chaotic home that wrote, ‘you grow up, swear you will never become like them, you become just like them, then run away from home and become an orphan.’
Most of the patients I work with have siblings. If they grew up in a home with addiction/mental health issues I will often times hear that their siblings have scattered to the four winds; where is your sister these days – she’s in Alaska, where is your brother- oh, he’s in Texas.
People have said to me, “I know I have issues but staying around family just intensifies them. I’m crazy, but they are even crazier!” Call it a survival tactic if you will. How can a person deal with their ‘stuff’ if they are constantly surrounded by other family members and their ‘stuff? They can’t (at least not effectively in the beginning of treatment that is). This ‘survival’ mode can cause problems when dealing with the world outside of ‘family of origin.’ I will discuss this in more detail in a future blog.
So what else is going on? Well, I am wicked missing Nova Scotia. Vacation there this past summer has fueled my desire to be there more; the sense of community, the pace of life (there isn’t one, lol), the beauty to be found everywhere around one.
Maybe I’ll start a private treatment facility up there some day. If (when) I get more dates to expand my speaking engagements nationally and this becomes my primary source of income. Then one can live anywhere they like so long they have access to an airport that is relatively close by.
Well, time to go outside and admire the beautiful foliage.
a la prochaine…
Willy
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