Sven Serves It Up

I have found – both personally and professionally – that the way back to a “new normal” life after a tragedy is by finding small doses of normalcy.  The way we choose to recreate and the friends we recreate with, are a part of the road to recovery.

Notice that the first three letters of the word “recess” are R-E-C, as in short for “recreation”, “recreate”, or “recover”?  I’m not sure of the phonetic or linguistic connection, but I know there is one; it’s not a coincidence.  At the core of recreation is the basic human need to stop working and managing stressful responsibilities and instead turn our time to leisure activities that help us restore and recover our physical, mental, emotional, relational, spiritual, and energetic selves.

In 1995 I was already several years into my career working with kids – sports, camps, child care, etc.  I was working for the YMCA in a prominent community in before and after school programs similar to TDRPD’s Kids Korner and Kids Kamp programs.  Being the kind of job that splits shifts before and after the school day, I had the time during the school day to pick up a second job.  As it turned out I worked for the school district at my same elementary school site working the recesses and lunch time playground duty.  I saw “my” kids before, during, and after school.  I loved that job, and it’s the kind of work that Heather, Mike & Beth get to love doing on a daily basis here in Truckee.