The Hopper Memo

Remember the past with thankfulness, and meet the future without fear.  Plutarch:  ”On Contentedness of Mind”

Well, would you believe this time it’s “writing again, finally again?”  Note,  I’ve moved my blog to WordPress,  at this  address: http://thehoppermemo.com and I’m looking forward to the excitement this new host can provide.  It’s still inchoate and very much in need of tweaking so let’s see how it develops over time.  Interestingly,  I’m back at the keyboard as the result of a Twitter message that appeared in my feed from someone whose work I respect a lot.  Dr. Pat Romney. Her Tweet provided a link to her latest blog titled: “Living in The Senior Years” a subject I’ve given much thought lately, particularly since my 81st birthday is on the horizon.  Dr. Romney notes the following:  “An octogenarian says that he goes into his study each morning because there are pictures in his head that he must get down on paper.”  “Politics (local and national) involve another…” “Another an internationaly known scholar and writer… is still developing new ideas which she shares regularly with her list serve community.

Dr. Romney compares these thoughts with patients she meets at the nursing home. “A man prepares to die, another wishes he could.  A woman loses thirty pounds with no discernible physical ailment – her official diagnosis – failure to thrive.” http://eldersong.wordpress.com/2010/04/24/thriving/

And there you have it I’m blessed with the will to thrive.  I wake up in the morning with the desire to put some of my thoughts on paper. Of course, whether I do or not is a matter of diversion, and sometimes plain procrastination. I do, however, manage to post (maybe too often) to either Facebook or Twitter.  Add to that the ton of email that I process and often answer and I’m writing a lot albeit with questionable permanence. I still walk 2 to 3 miles a day at least four times a week. and I thoroughly enjoy the good weather days when I can put on a shirt and tie, walk out into the neighborhood and exchange a smile or greeting with neighbors and strangers alike!  Importantly my work with the St. Augustine’s Project, helping to restore the historic Slave Galleries at St. Augustine’s Church in Lower Manhattan, lends incredible value to my life. Certainly, I hear often enough the inevitable question: “where do you find time and energy for all that?”  My answer is always the same faith, a prayerful life and thankfully, an insatiable curiosity.  I would wish that family and friends alike will have no trouble finding the will to thrive.