laboring on the day….
So it’s Labor Day weekend. And yes, I am working even though I love what I do so much it’s more like I am passioning. I’m still charging through Florida on my book tour but I’m also doing a little bit of thinking about Labor Day weekend and the work ethic that was pounded into me by my parents.
My dad was a brick mason. He called himself an Artistic Manipulater of Burnt Clay Products and his work was often as beautiful as his self-created title. My mom stayed at home until I was almost in high school and then she worked as a medical receptionist until she retired. They both worked very hard. Sometimes, especially in the winter, when there were no jobs my dad really did go shoot a deer so we could eat dinner. We never had a lot of money but we had a lot of fun.
When I think about my dad coming home and how he loved it when I unlaced his workboots and then often brought them back to him an hour later so he could do a side-job after dinner I don’t think of anything but how much he loved us. I know both my parents felt bad when they couldn’t help me pay for college or send me to camp or buy me new clothes every year. But like I said, we had a lot of fun, and I felt loved every single day of my life.
More than anyhing I also knew it was important to love what you do and I am lucky in that. So damn lucky. Nothing has ever really come easy for me, except that fun part, and really, I can’t imagine anything I would rather do on Labor Day weekend than labor.
So here I go…but just to keep things balanced I am going to take a break and have a drink on the deck and send a toast to my mom and dad back in Wisconsin who proved to me that hard work does pay off. Especially if you are living your passion.