It occurred to me that my classmates probably know very little about who I am, what I like, dislike – what makes me tick. My blog name is care4poor, my given name is Linda. I chose my blog name because of my career – I’ve been in the Medicaid Managed Care business for nearly 20 years. Essentially, our company helps the poor and disadvantaged get proper health care services. We do this in 6 states, and serve over 2 million people.
But, I don’t define myself by my career. I am also a wife and mother. I shouldn’t define myself by those roles either. Who is Linda? If all those roles went away (God forbid), who and what would I be? That’s hard to say, because I’ve been functioning in those roles almost exclusively for over 20 years. I don’t want to know who I would be if I didn’t have my husband, kids and job.
Who would Linda be? I would still want to travel, read, sing in the church choir. I think I would go to the shore more often. I might get involved in sports or exercise again (I was once – long ago, but not far away, a health and physical education teacher). I wouldn’t want to teach again – I no longer have the patience with a large group of kids who want to do their own thing – it is like herding cats. You can spend more time reigning them in than instructing or leading.
I think I would definitely start golfing again. I love being out on the course, I love the silence, the smells, the feel of the turf under your feet.
But for now, I am content to raise my kids and keep my husband healthy and happy. I have always said that as parents, our job is to raise them for 20 or so years, and prepare them to be independent and successful. (Not to mention, compassionate so they are ready, willing and able to take care of us when we get old!) If you really think about it, we know our kids as children for only a few years. But, we will (if we are lucky) know our children as adults for many, many years – and we will have accomplished our goal if we actually like who they grow up to be. Jackie Kennedy Onassis once said (and I paraphrase), I will consider my life a success if my children turn out well.
