I commonly sing Cracker’s song “Happy Birthday to Me” when birthdays are imminent. Its chorus joyfully exclaims a dual birthday celebration:
Happy, happy birthday to me.
Happy birthday to me, and to you.
But this celebration is followed by a reminder to appreciate life:
I’m feeling thankful for the small things today.
So today I am doing both: celebrating and being thankful. One year ago today, Marv and I signed Stonebridge Learning’s articles of organization and started down the road of developing digital resources for heritage preservation education. (Happy birthday to him and to me!)
We have much to celebrate about Stonebridge Learning. From business startup and development to launching our first course, the business has progressed and will continue to grow. I am proud of what we’ve done thus far and the plans we have in store. As I finish up our initial group of courses, my prospective list of e-pubs and apps grows by the minute (even though there is simply not enough time to do them all).
Celebrating personal growth over the last year is just as important. I am thankful for the time I’ve been able to spend re-immersing myself in historic preservation and what the field means to me. Through my private reflections and my not so private scribblings, I’ve re-confirmed my core belief that celebrating, honoring, and preserving significant aspects of our individual and collective past can serve as a solid foundation for a vibrant future.
My thankfulness today is for things that are not so small. I’m thankful for Marv’s steadfast love, passion, and encouragement throughout this process. He has exhibited more patience in the last 12 months than I could ever muster. His confidence in me and this adventure gets me through each and every day. I am thankful I get to work side by side with him (and the fur-kids).
I’m also incredibly thankful for the opportunity afforded to me by my parents in this journey. They both instilled in me a belief that I could be and do anything. While I sometimes question their wisdom in that effort, their belief in me provides fuel as I continue to consider what I want to be when I grow up. I miss them. Every. Single. Day.
If you are curious about what I’ve been up to, feel free to peruse our website stonebridgelearning.com. You can also follow Stonebridge on twitter, where I share interesting heritage preservation learning opportunities from across the country and a few editorial comments on heritage preservation issues. I also have some speaking gigs coming up, so keep an eye on scribblings for more about that.