Library News for August 11, 2008
Preschool Story Time has resumed on Tuesday’s at 10 am. We are thankful that Jennifer Franklin is once again coordinating this program for us. She does a fantastic job!
Next week we will have a special guest for the Library Book Club meeting. Michael Freeland will be with us discussing his book “Blood River to Berlin.” Come join us on Thursday, August 21, at 1 pm here at the library.
The Library Friends will also be meeting next Thursday, August 21, at 5 pm to discuss their fall activities. Please join us for this meeting if you would like to help.
Can I take a little break from the regular library news and share a story with you? I graduated Saturday with my Masters in Library and Information Science. It has been a long, hard road getting here, but I made it! I would like to share my story with you in hopes that it will encourage you to pursue your dreams no matter your age. I am not a spring chicken as you know; I will turn 47 on Friday. Earning this degree has been a dream come true for me, and I definitely have EARNED it. Let me tell you what I have been through during the two-year period that it has taken me to earn my degree. To start, I had to bury my 63-year-old mother the morning that I left that afternoon to attend orientation at the University of Alabama (August 19th, 2006). It was mandatory to be part of the class. When I returned home a few days later, my siblings and I began caring for my grandmother (Mamaw). She had always been a huge part of my life. My mother had lived with her and taken care of her; she had only placed her in a nursing home a few months earlier. We moved her to a nursing home right by my house where we could take care of her. One of us would visit at least three times a day as we fed her all of her meals which was the only way she would eat anything. We managed to keep her with us a few more months that way. She passed on June 11, 2007. Besides the deaths, life also presented other trials and pains during this time, but then, on June 30, something wonderful happened. My first grandchild, Derek, was born. He has been like a ray of sunshine after all the pain. For the past year, I have been juggling playing with him and doing homework. I have ended up with a 3.9 GPA. Not bad considering all of this was going on at the same time that I had been working a full-time job as director of the library (which entails more than you can imagine), plus attending school two nights a week, plus doing homework, plus being active in TLA (Tennessee Library Association), plus being a dedicated wife and mother (which I consider my primary and most important job.) Looking back, I know there is only one way I was able to do it all…God given strength. “As thy days, so shall thy strength be.” Deuteronomy 33:25. So, out of sheer joy to be at the end of this journey I say, “To God be the Glory!” If you have a dream and God opens the doors, GO FOR IT!
