Hello, Younglings. And other interested parties.
Yes. I brought all those CDs home. They've been in my work office for almost two decades. At one point my entire music collection (45s, LPs, 8-tracks, cassettes, CDs) were in my work office. Then the CDs were in an office that wasn't my office anymore.
On Friday, August 27 (E's birthday!), I brought them home. Now they're in the library. My other media (the LPs, etc.) are in storage.
And here's why:
After 18 years, I am saying goodbye to UACossatot.
(NOTE: This almost reads like my CV, so...sorry.)
I started my career in higher ed there in 2003. I had two teenage daughters, a husband, three cats, two dogs, and a turtle. I taught Spanish and Music. I taught Spanish for the Upward Bound program. I taught Spanish for the Workplace at Husqvarna in Nashville. I taught Success Strategies at one point. I taught Music, Spanish, and Employment Strategies online. I taught Music in the AV classrooms. Then I taught Intro to Education and Technology for Teaching. I taught on all three campuses: DeQueen, Nashville, and Ashdown. I taught at 8 o'clock in the morning. I taught until 9 o'clock at night.
I served on committees: Assessment, Disabilities, Distance Learning, which I chaired for five years. I was on Academic Council, Leadership Team (as it was called at that time), and the Accreditation Team.
For a brief period, I was the Director of Distance Learning.
I moved offices 11 times.
I went through two Leadership Programs, local and state. I served on the Arkansas Community Colleges Conference Board. I went to conferences in Austin, Hot Spring, Little Rock, Chicago, Las Vegas, New Orleans, Detroit, and Overland Kansas. I even presented at some.
I got a PhD. Was nominated for Dissertation of the Year in 2013.
All while raising children, grandchildren, and playing in one of the most successful bands in the region. Plus being a partner in the largest concert production company in the region.
We played Collinfest, Alleyfest, Lum and Abner Days, Pink Tomato Festival, Pine Tree Festival, StarDaze, New Boston Pioneer Days, Dino Days. Conventions for BMI. Clubs in Hochatown, Fort Smith, Ruston, Monroe, Texarkana, Hot Springs, Pine Bluff, El Dorado, Temple and Killeen, Texas. The Peabody (as it was known at the time) in Little Rock. We opened for Joan Jett, Little River Band, Doug Stone, Steve Azar, Jack Ingrahm, Earl Thomas Conley, and a lot of other people I can remember now. We closed for Shenandoah.
I published an essay. And two novels.
We moved twice. Lived in a loft. Bought our dream home. Made several trips out west and to New Orleans. Went to Spain. Gained 7 more grandchildren. Grandparents died. Uncles and other relatives died. We gained a daughter and three sons-in-law. There were marriages and divorces.
Poppa Don retired. We sold the production company. There was a pandemic.
Then we lost a daughter. Forever. That's when things began to shift.
I'd been casting my net for awhile, long before tragedy struck the family. I still had career goals. She wouldn't have wanted me to stop trying. Like everything else in life, I "took it to the Lord in prayer," and even though I don't understand what He's doing most of the time, He put things into motion when they needed to be.
I have been offered the position of Dean of General Education at East Arkansas Community College in Forrest City, and I'm taking it. I've been teaching there as an online adjunct for over a year now and have thoroughly enjoyed it. Now I will be part of their team on a full-time basis.
This is an opportunity I cannot afford to pass up, and...it's time. To move forward professionally and personally. It's ironic that I should (possibly) finish my career in Eastern Arkansas just like I began over in McGehee back in 1996. What days those were (see previous blog about "That Guy".) And I still have the greatest partner with me, who has supported me in every aspect, all the way across the country and back.
We will still maintain the Plantation...Oops, I'm sorry...the House Formerly Known as The Plantation. It was meant to be our retirement home, and will remain so. Poppa Don will be its caretaker, as well as for the menagerie of pets that reside there. I've lucked out and lined up a great place to rent only two miles from my new campus. One that met all of my ideal criteria: Month-to-month, furnished, utilities paid, covered parking, and I can bring Sharky and Ingrid. I've discovered when you need lodging quickly, always call the church. This is the fourth time in my life that option has been beneficial. Another reason I believe this was meant to be - it just fell into place very easily.
Serendipity.
I am excited for this new phase in my life, but I'm sad because I loved my job at Cossatot. I have made many friends there over the years and I will miss them terribly. But that's the great thing about social media - I'll still see these friends when they post: their accomplishments, their recreational activities, their children and grandchildren. They are like family to me and were so good to us last spring. Many of them knew those two youngest daughters from their years in DeQueen High School and their time in classes at Cossatot, where Cassie received her Associate of Arts Degree.
There's a lot of connection there, and honestly, there are days when it's hard to be in DeQueen, with so many memories made when Kaytea and Cassie were starting high school and junior high respectively. Cross country and track meets. Cheerleading. Pageants. All sorts of activities. It's hard to drive by Leopard stadium, or even the 9th street intersection that goes to our old house on Circle Drive. It's not every day but there are moments and I have to push it aside and get through it. Even TJ's parking lot holds a special honor. (HAHAHAHA!)
It's bittersweet to say the least, but we need to keep moving forward. I know someone who would insist and be proud. You've got one life, rise up and live it, she says.
So hold on to your hat, y'all! Sit back and enjoy the ride!
