Mission Statement Part Five: In My Journey Through Life

In my Journey through Life, I will: 
Stop to ask for directions: Seek credible advice from Masters and Mentors  

In my life, I have had the privilege of learning from a series of  Masters and Mentors. These are my favorites.

In elementary school and junior high, I especially remember that Helmi Thompson, Sally Reyman, and Laura Beheler “had my back” – they taught me right from wrong, and helped me plan my life five, six, seven years in advance. Mrs. Thompson was a Girl Scouts leader, and she adopted me into the troop, helping me attain badges and self-confidence. Ms. Reyman taught me art – how to put colors and textures together into a life collage. She also taught me how to deal with death and loss, as the love of her life was killed in a mountain-climbing expedition. Ms. Beheler was a guidance counselor, and she taught me the necessity of high grades and extra-curricular activities as the keys to college scholarships.

Once I graduated from high school, I remember other special Mentors and Masters: Madelyn Phillips, Marie Dextre, Mercia Leton-Kahn, Cecilia Bankins, and Willard Wright.

Madelyn was the mother of my fiancé in the early 70s. She had traveled with her military husband all around the world, collecting treasures like snuff bottles and kukui-nut necklaces. She loved anything Polynesian; she taught me graceful Hawaiian dances, the beauty of colorful long dresses and toe-rings, and the importance of supportive partnership. She had coffee with her husband every morning, and waited for him to come home after his swing-shift, taking the time to listen to his stories. Madelyn taught me about being a loving partner. It was no surprise to me to find out recently that they died together.

Marie took me under her wing when I went to San Francisco. I knew no one and had no family, but Marie arranged for me to live in the Salvation Army’s Evangeline Residence for Women, across the street from work, and I became the daughter she never had. She taught me how to work in an office, especially regarding personnel and office management. She loved books and music, especially opera, and taught me to appreciate all music, regardless of source.

Mercia Leton-Kahn was one of the first ladies of Social Security. She became an attorney in the 1930s – a time when few women dared to study law – and started to work for Social Security in 1937, shortly after it began. She was incredibly smart, compassionate, and loyal to her constituencies. As the Director of the Medicare Program in San Francisco, she was my boss, and she wrote a letter of recommendation for me to enter the University of Baltimore School of Law. She taught me to aspire to the loftiest goals possible, especially education, but never to forget your roots and family.

Cecilia Bankins was my boss at the Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration in Washington, DC. A beautiful African-American woman, Cecilia was the Human Resources Officer, and she trusted me to be a generalist in personnel management, independently servicing one of the largest and most complex components of the agency. Cecilia was spunky and playful, but carried herself as a consummate professional. Under her tutelage I continued to climb the professional and administrative career ladder. Cecilia taught me empathy, how to be a successful woman of color in management, and how to laugh when you would rather scream or cry.

Finally, Willard Wright was the Director of Personnel for the Health Care Financing Administration (now the Centers for Medicate and Medicare Services). Like Cecilia, he trusted me as a professional and an administrator. I was one of his Branch Chiefs, focusing on policy and program evaluation, and I spent hours learning from him, laughing with him. With Willard, I rose to be the highest-ranking Hispanic female in the Department. Willard had put in his years of service, and was looking forward to retirement. I probably had a chance to succeed him. I will never forget the time when I told him that I could no longer support our President and the actions he was requiring us, as administrators, to do. The agency was undergoing a reduction in force, and I left federal service with his blessing and support, and returned to Santa Fe. Willard still believes and works toward bringing up the younger generation to achieve all that they can be, and that is the legacy he left with me.  

From my Masters and Mentors I learned to be a Master and Mentor. I learned adulthood, womanhood, and my profession. I also learned that I was not entitled to anything: I had to work hard, study hard, conquer my shyness and introversion, ask for help only after trying to figure it out on my own, ask questions, and create art from vision. Most importantly, I learned to set goals and to ask for direction with a blend of self-sufficiency, curiosity, and “spunk” that prepared me for all of the blessings I have received.

Mission Statement Part Four: In My Journey Through Life

In my Journey through Life, I will:

Follow the roadmap: Know where I am and where I’m going

 

I pride myself at being a 21st Century kind of gal – I’m pretty adept at my computer (PC – I haven’t graduated to Apple yet); I can use Chrome, Office, Facebook, Google+, Twitter, and Linked-In; I purposefully equipped my car and learned how to use the bells-and-whistles like a Smart Key, Sirius XM, hands-free phone, and, of course, a heated seat. I can speak to my GPS so I can keep driving while it tells me how to get to where I am going. That is so much better than folding a map! (Ummm, do you remember having to use a map that requires a degree in engineering in order to unfold it and fold it back up? Or am I dating myself again?)

Anyway, the GPS will tell me where and how to reach my destination. If I miss a turn, it will “recalculate my route” and get me back on track. The key to successfully following a recalculated route is to know where you are, not just where you are going, and to pay attention to the directions being given.

Wouldn’t it be great if, every time we take a wrong turn – speak disrespectfully, gossip about someone, choose the wrong job just because it pays better, buy something even if it means going outside the budget – your route would be recalculated so you’re back on track, and you know where you are and where you are going? Joel Osteen talked about that in one of his talks: God knows where I am at all times and will recalculate my route if I make a wrong turn. I just have to believe that He will be my GPS at all times. What’s the key? I have to be aware that I made a wrong turn or missed a turn, and ask God. “A little help here?” I ask Him, and I listen for His response.

Of course, it always helps to have a navigator, even when using a hands-free GPS. The second pair of eyes and ears helps me to be more mindful with my driving. That’s how it is with life – it helps to have someone who can listen to me, to help me get my moral and emotional compass back to True North, and catch life’s nuances that may pass me by.

My Journey Through Life - Part 3

In my Journey through Life, I will:

Take the high road: Forgive quickly, and live with integrity, empathy, and compassion

Snow Day

I have a really sweet work situation: I work as a Writer-Editor for the Amarillo Field Office, but I telework from the agency office in Santa Fe, where I live. One week a month I travel to Amarillo to interact with my co-workers, but, for the most part, my work is done electronically. I can call in to meetings and participate via speaker phone, and I simply tunnel in to the field office file network and/or email my work back and forth. I am trusted to work independently and in a self-directed way, and I cherish that trust.

I was scheduled to be in Amarillo last week. Last weekend, seeing the approaching storm on the 5-day forecast, we decided to postpone the trip. Sure enough, both Santa Fe and Amarillo were hammered with snow. On Wednesday, the snow hit Santa Fe and by that afternoon, the Amarillo office left early as the storm approached. So Wednesday and Thursday were snow days or early departure/delayed openings. However, as a teleworker, I can simply work from home – there is no need for time off because of snow. I was faced with one of the strongest ethical dilemmas a teleworker can encounter – when all of your co-workers are sleeping in because of snow, the teleworker is physically at “work”, and is expected to put in the hours as if s/he is at the office. My normal workday starts at 7:00 am -- who would know if I slept in? Who would know if watched the morning news or game shows? I would know, and that’s all that matters. I logged in to my computer promptly at 7:00 and put in my 9-hour day. On Friday morning, it was really cold and windy but sunny in Santa Fe, and I went to work as usual, like all of the Santa Fe-based agency workers. Amarillo was still digging out of the snow and had a 2-hour delay; I work in Santa Fe, however, and I am trusted to make the right work decision: to work where and when folks in Santa Fe are working. 

Ethical behavior and acting with integrity means taking the high road, and knowing that I did just that kept my inner candle lit.

Mission Statement Part Two: In my Journey through Life

In my Journey through Life, I will:

Take someone with me: Cherish friendship and family, and let time heal my heart

For the two days before Christmas 2014, I did my annual visits to my siblings and friends, delivering a box of Christmas goodies to each of them. I have to start the baking for these boxes around Thanksgiving in order to have the variety and a sufficient amount of cookies, muffins, fudge and candies that I think is “just right”. The baked goods are loaded into a freezer, while I have to make the fudge and candy at the last minute. I also include some kind of hand-crafted item; this year, the recipients found a crocheted potholder or washcloth/soap holder set. I have to start the handcrafting in the summer, in order to have enough for each box.

The point of the Christmas goodie box is not so much the giving as the receiving: The two days that I spend delivering the boxes are my two favorite days of the year, because I get to see almost all of my siblings and receive their loving kindness, hugs, and kisses. It is not so much the effort: It is a months-long experience of baking and creating, time that I spend thinking of each individual and family and visualizing delivery day.

There were two additional special events for this past Christmas: We participated in a tamalera for the first time at my sister Peggy’s home, sitting around the table, making tamales with her and all of her daughters and their daughters.  I also spent time during the year to create a special Prayer Shawl for my sister Gloria, who lives in a local nursing home. Visiting with her and my niece Shirley, a year after she lost her oldest son Arthur, Jr., was a special moment that I will treasure.

Two years ago, I didn’t give out goodie boxes. I had just experienced a significant weight loss, and it would have been very difficult (and a bit incongruent) to do the required baking and cooking. Instead, I created special Christmas rosaries for everyone and sent them out. It was a melancholy Christmas, because, despite my loving and prayerful intention, I didn’t get to actually visit with everyone. I was also estranged from one of my loved ones, and my heart was in pain. That Christmas two years ago, I had lost sight of the true meaning of my tradition – seeing everyone in the space of two days, receiving my special hugs and kisses, catching up on the year, tasting the Vigil/Baca/Valdez tamales and empanaditas that were unique to each of those families.

For Christmas 2013, I reconciled with my loved one, resumed my tradition of delivering my Christmas boxes, and vowed never to spend another Christmas without cherishing my friends and family. For Christmas 2014, I kept that vow.