Uphill idealist

When I was little my Mom often read me story of the Little Red Caboose. The main concept of the story is that the small red train car feels overlooked and unloved as he's always coming in last. However, by the end of this story, the red caboose has an opportunity to save the day, and see's that his actions had always been appreciated. There is nothing 'little' about being the Little Red Caboose. Earlier this morning, I had some time and a personal experience being a 'caboose' by assisting with a 5K race for the agency my husband works. At the end of each race, there is usually a sag wagon or truck to follow the last group of walkers and runners to assure all make it back to the finish line safely. This year, I was asked to be the 'last walker' in the 5k to assure that all were present and accounted for at the end of the race. While I was walking with Owen, my grandson, we took in the beautiful fall day, chatted with the runners and wa...

Image from Amazon.com. When my daughter was little, she loved the Richard Scarry book collection. Her favorite was the three story collection of Pig Will and Pig Won't. As you can guess, Pig Will was easy going and willing to help where help was needed and take care of things that needed to be done. Pig Won't - for the most part, wasn't interested in helping or doing much of anything. Scarry's books are filled with cautionary tales, but the endearing animal characters ironically humanize the conflict of each story. Years after reading these books, the lessons have stuck with me - as a parent and personally. While most of the time people fall in the middle of will and won't - the story of these brother pigs have reminded me how important my attitude and action (or inaction) are. Years ago, if my kids started out having a bad morning I'd say, "Hey, why don't you run upstairs, hop into bed, hop back out and start your day over again?" or when the...