My Perfect Gift on My Last Day At Work ... at least for the moment

This might seem a bit strange to be considered a Perfect Moment, especially since it happened on the day I decided to take medical leave from work to take care of my health.

I had been fighting the doctor’s advice for a while, thinking I could “Superwoman” through just about anything. But I eventually found that just because I might want to do something in my head and heart, the body does not always agree.

So, the time came to tell my students, and I have to admit I was able to do it without crying which had been my big challenge. Because they mean so much to me, but also because this would be the first time in 30 years I was not working.

I made it through the first group, and then on my last day had to tell the second group of students. It helped that some of them had already heard!

At the end of the day, I did not realize they planned to have a small going away send-off for me.

I was doing just fine until my boss started talking about how 8 years ago we had joined together to re-launch this Newswatch program at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism, and how much I meant to him and the more than 800 students we have taught during our time together. I was OK, until his voice started cracking.

Then it was my turn to speak. I think I was able to get out the words “Thank you” and “Remember to work hard and have confidence in your skills” before all of a sudden I felt the tears start to well up. It was incredibly emotional and all I could do at that point was say, “Just use what I taught you” and then I held up my hand and added, “I’m done.” 

That’s when it started, the students all started hugging me, one by one, some crying, all saying I was the toughest teacher they had ever had, but they were so going to miss me because they knew I cared.

One even stood for a while sobbing on my shoulder. I was there comforting her after spending two semesters seeing her at least two days a week, sometimes more, and really enjoying watching her grow.  Her feelings were so raw, and heartfelt, and then I started crying again with her.

Another student even hugged me and pressed a note into my hand saying please read this letter later. It was a note telling me she appreciated my no-bullshit approach to things, and loved that I challenged everyone to be better. She thanked me for caring about her.

No, I think it goes the other way, I thank all my students for caring about me. They called; they wrote on Facebook; they instant messaged me. Former students I hadn’t heard from in years, reaching out to say “Hang in there, get better and get back to work!”

I was touched at the overwhelming support and love I have felt since making this tough decision to finally put myself first. I am a very blessed woman with amazing students, wonderful, supportive colleagues and a wife who is with me every step of the way. I also have amazing doctors! Just knowing all these people are behind me, supporting me, hoping to see me back walking the halls of Cronkite again and asking “What else ya got?” in our morning news meetings gives me hope, and courage, and the will to also get healthy and get back.

So, my Perfect Moment was in getting the opportunity to really know how much people care for me, and that is a gift I will remember forever.

Sue, Phoenix

OUR FIRST PERFECT MOMENT MONDAY

An InLinkz Link-up

No one knows you're a dog on the radio

I've spent many lovely moments lately looking at photos on Instagram. This comes from the Morning Edition pages. Want a real treat? Check out this little cutie: Morning Edition, baby.

The years are short: Life is the ride

Nicely done. We all have our own ride down Third Avenue.

Reflections on a therapist's office

Therapist's office commentary, originally uploaded by RobinJP.

'y r u here'

This message is scratched into a table at an office where my weekly meditation group gathers. It's the office of a therapist.


The first few times I saw this, I didn't look too closely, but thought it said 'you are here.'

True, you are here. But it's not a 'Kilroy was here type of message.' It's much more profound.

'You. Are. You. Here.' is a great reflection on therapy. And a great message to carry daily.

I like to think the angry child, frustrated spouse, bored teen sitting in the waiting room was passing on a message of comfort to us all.

y r u here.

.... wherever you are.


UPDATE inspired by my friend Kate who said on Facebook: 'I thought it was a question... why are you here?"

Now that she says that, I remember thinking that also when I first saw this a few weeks ago.  But last night when I saw it again, my mind just stuck on the optimistic side.  I guess I hoped the carver had left a positive lesson for us all.  And besides, the grammarian in me just didn't see the invisible question mark!  


Robin, Phoenix

The boys of winter swing for the fences and never show their age.

You know, sometimes it is difficult to find anything to smile about, especially after a tough week at work. But today one of my former students sent me a link to a story that he just did and by the end I was not only smiling, but laughing out loud!

The guys in this story - Aging Northeasterners stay young in the winter by playing stickball - truly know the meaning of enjoying life to the fullest, and I love that they are able to do it by bringing a little of the past into the future.

I hope this brings a smile to your face as well!

Sue, Phoenix 

When Aloha means 'Thank god we're still here'

Sometimes the best part of a vacation is the anticipation. You might say that was the case this Christmas when Sue and I flew to Hawaii to celebrate her birthday. But you'd be wrong.

We started planning in the summer, booked the flight and hotel in August and bought tickets to a luau and made reservations for Christmas dinner soon after.

We were so excited. Ready for a break from work and to spend a few days in paradise. I was looking forward to showing Sue my old haunts from when I lived in Hawaii in my 20s.

Then we had one of those hiccups that happens because we're not in our 20s anymore. A little health issue stopped us in our tracks for a day or so at the beginning of our trip.

Was this vacation going to be all anticipation? No. It turned out to be just fine. We did everything we'd planned -- just did it at a slower pace, with a little less gusto.



Robin, back home in Phoenix

Strolling Waikiki Beach

Strolling Waikiki Beach, originally uploaded by RobinJP.

All at once, Waikiki can be so beautiful and so insanely busy.

Just 100 yards from this spot is a quiet beach and a calm spot to swim. It was one of my favorite spots to hang out and swim after class when I went to the University of Hawaii.

But the tourists flock to this spot where they can rent boards and buy sodas.

One thing I like about this photo is that you can't hear the noise. Another is that it's fun to see that even though the beach is chaotic, everyone seems to be lost in their own private world.

Robin, Honolulu (at least for today)

Niccce vanity plate

There I was running some errands after work one week before Christmas 2013.

I'd just pulled out from Safeway, unable to pick up what I needed. My mind was rushing to my next stop, all the elves in cars around me looked just as harried.

And then I noticed the plate on the car in front of me. I have no idea what the driver intends with that message: "Niccce." Perhaps she just loves her Beemer.

But to me, at that moment, it meant that everything's nice, all is well, slow down, smile, be in the moment, (and for heaven's sake don't hit any pedestrians).

So, let's be careful out there and keep it NICCCE!!

Robin, Phoenix       

Niccce vanity plate, originally uploaded by RobinJP.

Zen of the big, scary leap

Tontozona, hiking near Payson, Arizona, originally uploaded by RobinJP.

What a beautiful spot.

I took this shot while I was procrastinating. I was standing on a very jagged rock about to jump across the stream to another rock.

For some reason, I felt stuck. Sue (who has two artificial knees) had already hopped across and was waiting on the other side. She was looking back at me, very bemused by my inaction.

Seeing this photo now makes me think I should have just taken a seat and enjoyed the moment a little longer.  But I jumped. And I made it.

Robin, in Payson for the day

Found the best bread recipes ever

Thank you Food Network.

I baked a carrot, hazelnut bread with cream cheese glaze recently that made my neighbors begin talking about us all going into business.  It was truly awesome, but I give credit to a wonderful new recipe.

I found the mix-and-match recipe in a copy of the May 2011 Food Network magazine and my Perfect Moment this morning was when I finally found it online.
I'm throwing away all other bread recipes.  This is the one.  Because it is mix-and-match, one from column A, two from column B, etc., it's actually a recipe for hundreds of wonderful breads.

  Enjoy.

Mix-and-Match Quick Bread. 

I know this is much more practical and far less sentimental than most Perfect Moments.  But just try it: Bake, taste, share and ... Perfect Moment.

Robin, Tempe 

Happy Father's Day, Mom!

I wrote this post two years ago, but it's still a goodie.

I dedicate Father's Day to My Mom. 


... and my brothers.

Robin, Tempe

Sometimes, you gotta go

I ran a 5K race last weekend. It was kind of a pain because the race was 45 minutes from home .. and that's in 5 a.m. traffic.  But when I got to the park, I couldn't find the event. Turns out the run was in the same park as the past few years, but at a totally different entrance.

With a little help from a friend who was also lost and my GPS, I did find it, but I was really running late. 10 minutes to start.

I was preregistered but had to get my number and racing chip.  6 minutes to start.

Really, really had to go, so I headed to the potties. 5 minutes to start.  

Two weeks ago, these same race organizers delayed a 5K because of a long potty line. I'll be OK. 

On your marks...   

My turn! Zipped inside one of those lovely blue bins. Hovered over the hole and ....  HOOOOONNNNKK!  

Well, that was a first. I've never been in the potty at the start of the race. A personal record, not necessarily a personal best. 

Thank goodness for racing chips.  Once out of the potty, I crossed the starting line and my own personal race began. 

Robin, Tempe

Happy Flag Day, everybody

I went out for an early morning run today. Left the house at 6:30 while it was a little cooler and the light was gorgeous.
As I ran down one street, I saw a pickup truck filled with flags on poles. Boy Scouts were jumping in and out of the truck, planting those flags in the front yards.
It's Flag Day, I realized. The air was so crisp and the flags so pretty that I ran on with a smile on my face and my camera in my pocket.

Didn't even snap it. But the image lives on.

Happy Flag Day everybody.

... flags were kind of a big deal when I grew up. My dad was in the Air Force and life include a lot of insignias, uniforms, ceremonies. We knew the difference between staff and mast. We knew how to fold a flag into a tight triangle.

Seeing those flags line the streets this morning brought back good memories. (Although we cancelled our Boy Scout donation .. the one that brings the flags .. cause they have a thing against gay people.) And it feels like a warmup to the pomp and circumstance of the Fourth of July, just a few weeks away.

Now I'm craving hot dogs.

Robin, Tempe

I got a feeling... ready for anything and heading to the water

I went for a long walk the other day. Early on a weekend morning, I enjoyed watching my neighborhood wake up.

As I returned home, I passed a house where a young family was packing up the SUV. It looked like two couples, maybe brothers and their wives packing the back of the car, putting in food and chairs. From down the street I could see the activity, legs and feet under the car and a child who was shooed away.

When I passed in front of the house, I saw the adults continue to pack up and the child among them had been sent to a safe spot. A little girl, about 4, was sitting on a rock in the front yard watching all the action.

Straight black hair pulled back in a pony tail, she sat as still as her little bouncing legs would let her be. And then I saw it. It brought a smile to my face. She was wearing her life vest, ready for the pool or beach, or lake. Wherever they were going, this little sweetie was ready. Sitting in front of her house in the middle of the Sonoran Desert, she was ready for a great day on the water.

I hope her day was as wonderful as she dreamed it would be.


Robin, Tempe

The kindness of ... well, this is like the opposite of bullying

The first time Sawyer toured his new school, an 11th grade girl named Robyn spotted his Doctor Who Sonic Screwdriver and became his guide at ASA (Arizona School for the Arts).

She made his landing softer. She sent him a carnation on Valentine's Day, making him the coolest fifth grader ever.

Over the next two years, she made a point of saying "Hi!" And talking to him at events. It wasn't much, and it was everything.

Now she's a senior and about to go off to London to study medicine. We wish her luck in her travels. Wherever she lands, she will be fantastic!

Karina Bland, Tempe

Karina is a journalist in Arizona who who covers education, child welfare and family issues and writes a column called 'My So-Called Midlife' for The Arizona Republic. And she's got the cutest kid.

Not for the faint of heart

May 28, 2011, tortoise or the hare?, originally uploaded by RobinJP.

Arizona Road Racers Club has a funny sense of humor. But I fall for it every summer.

Today was the first in a series of five summer running races. Today's began at 7:30 a.m. and it was nearly 90 degrees when we finished. The rest of the races in the series begin at 6:30 a.m., early to beat the heat, they say. There is no beating the heat.

My Perfect Moment was at the starting line. A first-timer was asking me about the route and the heat and the crowd.

We are both signed up for the full series. We're committed to get up early and run in the sun. To train some and show up.

"You're here. That's all you need to know," I told her. She grinned, took a deep breath and took off running.


Robin, Tempe

No one stares like a 4-year-old stares

I went for a run during lunch the other day. It was hot, but I had a great workout and I needed a good shower before changing and heading back to work.

I change at the YMCA about a block from work. By the time I got to the showers, the locker room was pretty empty, but I could hear the sound of kids taking swimming lessons.

"Quack, quack, quack," they called out as I piled my clothes on a bench outside the shower stall.

"Splash, splash, splash," I heard as I lathered my hair.

Then I heard: ... "Split, splat, split... " and "There's somebody in there!"

I looked through a small gap in the curtain to see a tiny tot just staring at me. I waved, smiled and pulled the curtain tighter. She just stared, wide-eyed. As I went about my business, a group of 3- and 4-year-olds joined her, but they weren't interested in me. They were "freeeeezing."


They all started shaking and shivering and whining ... yes, cute, but whining ... about being "freeezing."

A mom joined them and I was sure she'd turn on one of the other showers and warm them under the water, but nope. She'd been here before.

She drove them like a Border Collie toward two big wall-mounted hair dryers and popped the dryers on. Her gaggle of tots bounced around underneath, laughing and wiggling as they warmed up.

All this took about 30 seconds and then they were in the next room calling out the numbers on all the lockers. Mom was making a game of drying off and getting dressed. There they went.

And then there I went.

"Quack, quack, quack," all the way back to work, with a smile on my face.

Robin, Tempe

Swimmer photo by Flickr user jessebezz

Two-stepping on a Saturday night

Prof Green and I went dancing last night.

You may think we're hip and happening, but we really don't hit the clubs very often. Last night, we had fun though. And a lot of it was watching the other dancers.

My Perfect Moment was watching one young couple. We were at a country bar that mixed up R&B, hip-hop, funk, pop, and country. My favorite moment was watching one very young couple dressed in what, back in the day, we would've called Goth: both in tight black T-shirts, black cargo shorts, dyed black hair, lots of tattoos.

I noticed them slip-sliding around the floor to some techno song and when it was over, they stayed to do a little Texas two-step with the rest of them.

They fell into step with all the Country Western dancers: Step forward, Touch, Step backward, Touch, Walk Walk, Flip that straight black hair. Just perfect.

Robin, Tempe

Treated myself to Joe's real good lunch

April 30, 2011, Joe's real good lunch, originally uploaded by RobinJP.

This was my weekend.

Wrote a blog post for work on the NASA Tweetup. ✓
Wrote a 5-page paper on alternative medicines and the placebo effect. ✓
Did 5 loads of laundry. ✓
Ran 4.5 miles along the desert hills of Phoenix's South Mountain. ✓
Shopped for new bras. (Hah! Ladies, you know what that means.) ✓
Fixed a great big salad for this week's lunches. ✓
Found a blouse in the closet so I don't have to iron. ✓

Wrote this Perfect Moment for Perfect Moment Monday. ✓

Treated myself to Joe's Real BBQ some of the best chicken and ribs in Arizona. ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓

I love weekends like this. Full and fun and they leave me recharged and ready to hit the week running.

Robin, Tempe

If I called my mom half as often as I think about calling her...

... she'd be so happy.

I would too. I called my mom last night at the end of a busy day. We chit-chatted and then ended up searching for Jazz Greats on YouTube. She was on her computer in Colorado. I was on mine in Arizona.

We found Duke Ellington's Satin Doll. Mom was surprised that this recording has had 1,139,617 views. And then, just like anyone else on the web, she moved from one thing to another, Oscar Peterson's Satin Doll, Ella Fitzgerald and then she stumbled on a Lady Gaga song. Yeah, made no sense to me either.

So, we listened to music. There is a lot of classic jazz on YouTube. Mom shared some of what she knows. I shared some of my tricks. We planned a visit. It was a Perfect Friday evening. .. Robin, Tempe