Each
of us face them. Days begin and then they end. Weeks start and finish. Months.
Years.
I
have nine days until I retire. When I began teaching and coaching in Wyoming
back in 1976, I had no thought of when it would end. It never crossed my mind.
Even when I briefly left teaching at the high school level for two years to
coach college basketball and earn a master’s in counseling, I always knew I’d
go back to teaching and coaching.
Back
in the 1985 – 1986 season, I knew I had a great senior class, a great team. It
wasn’t the most talented team I had coached. I won a state championship with
one team and played for a state championship with another team back in Wyoming.
Yet, Mike and Mike, Steve, Dave, Greg and Tom, and the others on that team were
some of the best kids I ever got to hang out with. So, I resigned from
basketball at the beginning of the season effective at the end of the season.
It was time. I knew it. I felt it. And besides, I wanted to leave with my
seniors, even though I had a great group coming up behind them.
I
began counseling in the fall of 1986. Of all the “jobs” I’ve had, I honestly
enjoyed counseling the most. I got to work directly with kids and their
parents. Loved it. I said “jobs” because for those of us who love what we do,
it isn’t really a “job.” It is a passion. It is fulfillment.
In
1987, I moved to California and became a counselor out there. Loved the sun and
the warm weather. Loved what I did. I met my wife at one school and we started
a family. Now, my kids are venturing on their own paths, their own lives. Proud
of them.
One
day, Ed decided he was going to retire. He had been a teacher, but mostly a
counselor for over thirty years. I remember telling him that I never thought I
would last that long. I mean, thirty years in any profession, in any passion,
is a long, long time. I didn’t want him to retire. I wanted to work alongside
of him longer. He was my friend and mentor. I mentioned this to him. He smiled –
he had the best smile – and his eyes disappeared as they always did when he
smiled and he said, “It’s time.”
As
a kid once upon a time, I had heard of a pope who, on his deathbed, allegedly
said, “I am ready. My bags are packed.”
Wow!
I don’t know about you, but I intend to go fighting, screaming and kicking the
entire way out. Not that I’m anywhere near my death, at least as far as I can
tell.
But
we all face an ending. For some, way too soon. My son, Wil, fell into that category.
My mom, on the other hand, lived until she was 99. We never know.
So
. . .
As
I sit here and write this, I have nine days until I turn in my badge and my
keys and walk away from my passion that I have been working and living at for
44 years. Nine days.
How
am I going to go? Screaming? Kicking? Fighting? Hell, no. Way, way too tired
for that. Will I . . . do I . . . have regrets? Absolutely. I think we all play
the “wish I could have; I think I should have” game from time to time. But all
in all, I am happy with what I have done. I’d like to think I had more successes
than failures. I do believe that.
You
see, I believe there is no such thing as a failure. I believe a failure is only
a success waiting to happen if you learn from the failures you’ve made. That’s
the key, isn’t it? To learn from each failure and turn it into a success.
All
too often, folks seem to stop at the failure. They see that as “the end.” We
cannot, must not stop there. We stop and consider, we think it through, and we
learn. We turn the failure into a success.
Yet,
each of us, in our own way and in our own time, will come to an end. A job. A passion
(and I hope for you reading this, it truly is a passion). A life. It doesn’t
pay to fret or worry. It doesn’t pay to dwell on the ending. I think the
meaning and value in any life, in any passion, is to live the life you have
fully and completely. Live it. Embrace it. Smile and laugh your way through it.
It’s the only satisfying and meaningful way to arrive at an ending. Something
to think about . . .
Live
Your Life, and Make a Difference!
To
My Readers:
My
new book, Betrayed, will debut Nov. 12, 2020! It is a
contemporary psychological thriller using some of the same characters from my
previous work. It takes place on the Navajo Nation Reservation in northeast
Arizona.
Below
is the book blurb. Pretty excited about it.
Integrity
is protecting someone who betrayed you. Courage is keeping a promise even
though it might mean death.
A
late-night phone call turns what was to be a fun hunting trip into a deadly
showdown. Fifteen-year-old brothers George Tokay, Brian Evans and Brett
McGovern face death on top of a mesa on the Navajo Nation Reservation in
Arizona. They have no idea why men are intent on killing them.
Betrayed
is a contemporary psychological thriller and an exploration of the heart and of
a blended family of adopted kids, their relationships to each other and their
parents woven into a tight thriller/mystery.
“Once
again, author Joseph Lewis has written a fast-paced psychological thriller
mystery that immerses readers into a dark world few encounter.”
—
Joan Livingston, author of the Isabel Long Mystery Series
“Betrayed
is at once an emotional chapter in author Joseph Lewis’ continuing
coming-of-age story and an intriguing thriller. Following both law enforcement
and a group of teens searching for a missing boy on Native American land,
Lewis’ latest also provides a unique view into Navajo culture. A layered story
that explodes into a bullet-riddled climax.”
—
Rick Treon, award-winning author of Deep Background and Let the Guilty Pay
Connect
with me on Social Media:
Twitter at @jrlewisauthor
Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/Joseph.Lewis.Author
Spiral
Into Darkness:
Named
a Recommended Read in the Author Shout Reader Awards!
He
blends in. He is successful, intelligent and methodical. He has a list and has
murdered eight on it so far. There is no discernible pattern. There are no
clues. There are no leads. The only thing the FBI and local police have to go
on is the method of death: two bullets to the face- gruesome and meant to send
a message. But it’s difficult to understand any message coming from a dark and
damaged mind. Two adopted boys, struggling in their own world, have no idea
they are the next targets. Neither does their family. And neither does local
law enforcement. https://amzn.to/2RBWvTm
Caught
in a Web:
A
PenCraft Literary Award Winner!
The
bodies of high school and middle school kids are found dead from an overdose of
heroin and fentanyl. The drug trade along the I-94 and I-43 corridors and the
Milwaukee Metro area is controlled by MS-13, a violent gang originating from El
Salvador. Ricardo Fuentes is sent from Chicago to Waukesha to find out who is
cutting in on their business, shut it down and teach them a lesson. But he has
an ulterior motive: find and kill a fifteen-year-old boy, George Tokay, who had
killed his cousin the previous summer.
Detectives
Jamie Graff, Pat O’Connor and Paul Eiselmann race to find the source of the
drugs, shut down the ring, and find Fuentes before he kills anyone else,
especially George or members of his family. The three detectives discover the
ring has its roots in a high school among the students and staff. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07CKF7696
Caught
in a Web is now available in Audio format. You can find it
at https://www.beaconaudiobooks.com/audiobookreleases/high-school-drug-rings-gangs-and-revenge-are-all-encompassing-in-caught-in-a-web-by-joseph-lewis
Book
One of the Lives Trilogy, Stolen Lives:
Two
thirteen-year-old boys are abducted off a safe suburban street. Kelliher and
his team of FBI agents have 24 hours to find them or they’ll end up like all
the others- dead! They have no leads, no clues, and nothing to go on. And the
possibility exists that one of his team members might be involved. http://tinyurl.com/Stolen-Lives-J-Lewis
Book
Two of the Lives Trilogy, Shattered Lives:
Six
men escaped and are out for revenge. The boys, recently freed from captivity,
are in danger and so are their families, but they don’t know it. The FBI has no
clues, no leads, and nothing to go on and because of that, cannot protect them.
http://tinyurl.com/Shattered-Lives-J-Lewis
Book
Three of the Lives Trilogy, Splintered Lives:
A
14-year-old boy knows the end is coming. What he doesn’t know is when, where or
by whom. Without that knowledge, neither he nor the FBI can protect him or his
family. http://tinyurl.com/Splintered-Lives-J-Lewis
The
Lives Trilogy Prequel, Taking Lives:
FBI
Agent Pete Kelliher and his partner search for the clues behind the bodies of
six boys left in various and remote parts of the country. Even though they
don’t know one another, the lives of FBI Kelliher, 11-year-old Brett McGovern,
and 11-year-old George Tokay are separate pieces of a puzzle. The two boys
become interwoven with the same thread that Pete Kelliher holds in his hand.
The three of them are on a collision course and when that happens, their lives
are in jeopardy as each search for a way out. http://tinyurl.com/Taking-Lives-J-Lewis
