From the words of Joel

Norman with Joel

Joel knew every child who dipped their toes into the pool at camp and he knew just when a storm was coming with a whole lot more accuracy than any of the experts tracking Hurricane Flo. Our friend is a retired teacher and a retired camp specialist. I bow to his ability to live in the present and to be retired the right way.

This morning on television, Matthew McConaughey was a guest on Live with Kelly and Ryan, (a new TV habit for this retiree). Mr. McConaughey, who is almost as cute as Joel Hochheiser, but not quite, spoke about a role in a movie he just made. He said that the poverty-stricken characters in his film were living on the hopes and dreams of the future, busy reciting the nostalgia of the past and paralyzed in the present, not going anywhere. On my kitchen wall is a quote from our friend Joel. He read similar words of wisdom to us on orientation day one summer, but as with everything, he recited them with much more finesse than the trained actor on my TV screen.

Imagine there is a bank account that credits your account each morning with $86,400. It carries over no balance from day to day. Every evening the bank deletes whatever part of the balance you failed to use during the day. What would you do? Draw out every cent of course. Each of us has such a bank. Its name is TIME. Every morning it credits you with 86,400 seconds. Every night it writes off as lost, whatever of this you have failed to invest to a good purpose...

To realize the value of ONE YEAR, ask a student who failed a grade. To realize the value of ONE MONTH, ask a mother who has given birth to a premature baby. To realize the value of ONE WEEK, ask the editor of a weekly magazine. To realize the value of ONE HOUR, ask the lovers who are waiting to meet. To realize the value of ONE MINUTE, ask the person who just missed a train. To realize the value of ONE SECOND, ask the person who just avoided an accident. To realize the value of ONE MILLISECOND, ask the person who won the silver medal at the Olympics. 

Treasure every moment that you have and treasure it more because you shared it with someone special, special enough to share your time with. And remember that time waits for no one. Yesterday is history. Tomorrow is a mystery. Today is a gift. That's why it is called the present.

This cartoon was printed in 1994. This quote is often attributed to Bil Keane, Eleanor Roosevelt, and Joel Hochheiser

As I age, I find myself reliving the past. I give credit to the many people who touched my life, such as Joel Hochheiser. And I also can't help wonder what this new chapter in my life will bring. A popular activity at school was to ask the students what their hopes and dreams might be for the new school year. Many would say that they hope to get better at math while others might dream of a future as the President. I do hope our new generation of students makes a difference! A better American life is a lovely dream for all of us to have.

As far as the present, today is Friday, and people who are not retired are waiting for the bell to ring, announcing the start of their weekend. Unfortunately, that might mean wishing many hours away. My Friday is no different from my Thursday or my Saturday. I have a chance to enjoy every day as a special day, just as Joel Hochheiser showed us all how to do at camp. Today, I am reminded to take his words and his actions to heart. 

What will you do today?