Deep Breaths

They say that to relax you must take deep breaths in.... then let them out..
Yesterday, I feel like I finally exhaled.
OK, it took a trip to a Japanese Tea Garden and an Irish pub to make it happen.
It also took being with my best friend, my wife Michelle.

The last several years have been nothing but easy.
We've lost three parents and two brother in laws,  and at the same time, I helped form a union against strong opposition from my employer, and became it's first president.

So it's been a taxing several years, and I continue try to learn balance. Balance between time for Michelle and I, time to relax, and time to accomplish what I am called to do.

I see such great potential in the movement, potential for working families, for patients, for students, for the disadvantaged, and for this country as a whole.
It's impossible for me not to give it my all.
So yes, I may struggle to find balance, but the larger struggle has been going on for ages, a struggle for respect, dignity, and fairness for all people.

Michelle and I spoke about the future, for us, for our lives together as we near or sixth decade, for the movement, and for our role in the movement.

She is my best friend, and has been so since we met 42 years ago in that high school hall, and for that, I am blessed.

As my best friend, she is willing to put my feelings before hers.
As someone who believes that we should care for one another, I am willing to put the movement before myself.

I do not know what the future holds, I know only what I believe in.

So, if that means being part of a struggle, then let it be so.
Just give me my best friend to be beside me, and a chance to relax once in a while.