Perceptions and Passages of a Lifelong Participant by Stephen G. Harding
Remembering on Veteran's Day This last Sunday, I watched on the CBS Sunday Morning show, Leslie Stahl interview David Nasaw. The subject, his latest book, "The Wounded Generation: Coming Home After World War II. When he talked about his own father, he could have very well been talking about mine. For me, it was an... Continue Reading →
One of the great things about aging is still having the time to appreciate how well one's, very much, adult children are doing. Both are accomplished professionals. Both are caring and loving parents. We, as their parents, still think of ourselves as stewards, stepping in when needed. We've been very very fortunate in sharing in... Continue Reading →
The Graduate Center for Public Policy & Administration The Chair of the public policy and administration program at Long Beach State sent me an email last week. It seems I'm to receive the "Distinguished Alumni Award" for 2025. Well, that's out of the blue. It's been years, but he and I once worked together on... Continue Reading →
Leave it better than you found it. Leave it on your own terms. Leave it with your integrity intact. I’m retired. Or am I repurposed? Maybe just redirected. Since I’m 76 and more worn than not, I may even be just a retread: “A person retrained for new work or a superficially altered version of... Continue Reading →
Will Rogers State Park Cousin Kimberly called today. She was checking in from Nashville, concerned about the fires and our well-being. She's always been good about this sort of thing. "How are you?" "Are you safe?" "Yes Kim, we are some 60 miles east of harms way." But, even before I finished those words my... Continue Reading →
Now What? An Open Conversation with Myself Time is flying. The stars aligned. You've hit the magic age. A 40-year career is complete. The kids, now adults, are grown, accomplished, self-sufficient, married, and, have children of their own. The day after writing that last tuition check was like getting a raise. Still, you and your... Continue Reading →
The Balance of Time--A Conversation with Myself It was a balancing act. A tug of war if you will. It was the continuum of competing interests for the most valuable commodity of all; time. In reality, it’s always been that way. The demands we put on ourselves, the expectations from others. It was a... Continue Reading →
It Sure Can be Quiet--An Open Conversation with Myself Nothing rings. Nothing buzzes. No business calls. No work related e-mails. No invitations to speak. There are no texts, no tweets, no nothing. Well, that's not totally true. You do have to count the ones from family, a few friends, and that core of current and... Continue Reading →
Where Have All the Friends Gone? An Open Conversation with Myself "Now What"--Even going over this time after time are you really ready? It isn't that you didn't prepare, or so you thought. You had it all figured out. The closer you got to pulling the plug on 40 years of meritocracy the more the... Continue Reading →
Monsoon season. I dreaded monsoon season. It came with pounding rain, and I had to drive in it. Since the wiper blades couldn't keep up, everything beyond the windshield just disappeared. White knuckled and eyes peeled, I was just hoping that the next Arizona crossing was not a torrent. The roar of the storm always... Continue Reading →