Friend #48

My time at the cabin brought to me lots of new faces and friends. I practically grew up at the cabin, so I assumed I knew everyone there. But children often introduce us to new people we might have never met otherwise.
One day, while looking for frogs and turtles in the swampy pond, Jackson yelled, "Mom! There's another boy about my age over there!" I told him to introduce himself and ask the boy his name. He seemed to do just that and returned. "Mom! He's 7 years old and his cabin is over there!" I asked, "What's his name?" "Uhhhh, he's my buddy! I'm gonna go play with him!" was all Jackson said. "But what's his NAME?" I repeated, but Jackson was gone.
Ten minutes later I went to check on him (I'm so blessed to have a place where my kids can roam for hours and I never have to think about kidnappers!) and he and his buddy had caught four bright green frogs. I did Jack's dirty work for him: "What's your name?" "DJ" he replied.
DJ's mom came over and we chatted. Her name is Shannie and we became buddies over the next few days just as our boys did.
Shannie recently graduated from nursing school. As she puts it, she "sucked" in high school because she didn't see any meaning to learning about things she'll never think about again. When she decided to be a nurse was when she had DJ. She wanted to be that nurse who was comforting and understanding. She wanted to have all of the answers her patients had.
Because of this passion, Shannie graduated at the top of her class with her nursing degree. And because of THAT, she was immediately offered two positions in her local hospital: an E.R. nurse, or in the operating room. She had four more days to decide, as of the day we talked about this.
I love it when people find their passion. Being passionate about your job makes those 40+ hours per week enjoyable and rewarding.
I often talk to my fiancee Mike about this. He is not passionate about his job. To him, his job is a way to earn money; a place to do his time 40 hours per week. I am VERY passionate about my job. Although I may dread going to work some days, I love feeling needed and useful to kids' lives. I love teaching them something new and cool.
And though that I hope I can help my students discover their passion.