My first blog (yay me!)...well, because I have things I want to say. I was going to try writing in a journal but I got to thinking (it happens now and then)...maybe somebody will actually want to read what I have to say or maybe it will help someone to read it.
So...uh...well that's funny...I had all these things in my head and when it came time to start typing...blank... Kind of like going to a doctor. You get there then you realize those symptoms left. It's more like "Where do I start?" than "What do I write about?". Someone (cause I can't remember who it was) once said that if you want to be a writer, just start writing.
So here's my first one...
I'm working on my PhD in Public Policy and Administration with a specialty of Public Management and Leadership. I'm telling you, don't start it if you can't finish it. It is not for the faint of heart. You have to want it bad to do something like this. I did want it bad at one point. I wanted my PhD to be able to teach at the college/university level. Then my sister, Lisa, died. My whole world was thrown off. My family's worlds were thrown about. I wanted answers. Why did she die? Well, I know the text book answer of why she died - blood clots. But why?
I had a hip replacement back in 2003 (at the age of 43 if you must know) and they put me on a blood thinner. But after Lisa broke her leg and they put a plate and screws in, she was on a blood thinner for one day. That's it? One day? And 43 days later she dies of blood clots. It tears me up inside.
My sister was an amazing person. She was the Director of Financial Aid at Granite State College in New Hampshire. She had only been there a year. Previous to that, she worked in the Financial Aid Office at Southern New Hampshire University. She was a rock star there. She went to bat for every student that needed help...all that she could. She looked for legal ways to get around the things that impeded those that needed financial help to stay in school. She had a heart that reached out to everyone. And with all that, she took care of her family. I found out about some of her work accomplishments after she died. If you ever look at a person's marker - they have the year of birth, a dash, and the year they died. It's that dash that she made so magnanamous that sometimes I feel I pale in comparison (I know, I know...I'm not supposed to do that).
I know one thing - she would not want her death to not be for something. My life's focus has changed. Oh, I still want to teach...but I want to find answers. I want to find better ways of doing things - with common sense (a topic for another time). I want to take the lessons of Lisa's death coupled with what I had to go through medically - and find practical answers. I want my dash to be of some help.
...and a PhD means...well...I'm working on that...
