One Great Quest

“Passion is what gives meaning to our lives. It’s what allows us to achieve success beyond our wildest imagination. Try to find a career path that you have a passion for.” Henry Samueli *********************************************************** After departing what was supposedly my birth place and home, it appears that I was spotted in the city of Chicago where I resided some 7 years including a year's stay in Southern Wisconsin where our first child was born.. I say 'supposedly' my home and 'appears' that I was spotted, because I never felt at home where I was born, and I never 'found myself' in Chicago. Chicago was a place I never planned to go. So in 1974, I returned to the place of my birth and hoped to remain there for life, but it was not to be, because I did not fine myself there, not even the second time around. In the Fall of 1978, a door of opportunity knocked 2000 miles away in California. So I gathered my wife and two kids and headed to San Francisco. The City by The Bay was a beautiful place. Our third child was born there during our 8 year stay. San Francisco captured our hearts and provided rich experiences and wonderful friends, but it proved to be another place where I did not fine me. Although for 8 years, our hearts were arrested by its people, it's culture, parks, and the roaring ocean waves of the Pacific, in 1986 we packed up everything, including our hearts, and moved away from the cool breezes and fog horns of San Francisco and headed Northeast about 100 miles to Sacramento, the hottest place of our lives. Looking back, I have often thought that, given a little more time in Wisconsin, I suspect I would have found myself there. But it wasn't to be, because at the time there was a higher priority than 'finding me'. That priority beckoned me back to Chicago. In Sacramento, where we have been for 35 years, we learned to appreciate and fall in love with the cool delta breezes flowing up the valley from the Pacific. Having been here longer than any place in our lives, I think this is where I found myself. In finding me, I found 'my passion'. I started and continue to write. I'm loving it. It's interesting to me that every place we have ever been was one we'd hope to remain for a lifetime. Time after time, the uniforms offered for service were not 'a fit for me'. No doubt, we are all different in many respects, but for me, I suspect that the key or one of the secrets to finding one's self and passion is to prayerfully pause our persons and stay in one place among dear and loving people, long enough. 071519PS