Rockefeller Preserve Center reading room - another angle

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Posted by Granite Head (209.252.105.51) on 19:08:03 07/10/12

In Reply to: Granite Head's TR, continued: nice Teton hike posted by Granite Head

Although I took pains to avoid photographing them, there were several people enjoying the books or relaxing in this pretty setting. A couple of them were elderly, perhaps just waiting for their more spry family members to come back from a hike.

These pictures hold a lot of emotion for me for another reason. In the job I had before my current one, I worked closely with the National Bureau of Economic Research in Cambridge, MA (a think-tank), a collaboration I always enjoyed because of the quality of the staff there. I did not know the executive administrator very well, though I met her once on a visit to Cambridge when she took me and the members of her staff I worked most closely with to lunch. I am happy to report that in my job here in Chicago I was able to solve several of the administrative issues between our two organizations and so we always had a good, if long-distance, relationship. Not too long before I left that job, she took the opportunity of the arrival of new leadership at her organization to leave and pursue her dream: she relocated to Jackson and volunteered for the park - she's very capable and talented and NPS was for sure thrilled to have her services. But I was never able to connect with her at the Center when I stopped by to say hi - her day off, etc.

However, I recently heard from NBER that she was seriously ill, so I asked about her at the center, which eventually had put her on the payroll. Her supervisor told me that she had metastatic lung cancer and was no longer able to work, code for: she's dying.
This woman, who is younger than I am, never smoked a day in her life, nobody else in her family has had any such disease so it's unlikely to be radon exposure, nobody really knows why she had such terrible luck. At least she's been able live out her days in Jackson (in part because her family takes turns staying with her), where she has made so many friends, and which she loves dearly. There's a major lesson here: DO NOT PUT OFF YOUR DREAMS.

Follow Ups:

• Rockefeller Center exterior - Granite Head 19:13:19 07/10/12 (17)
  • The "Sounditorium" - Granite Head 19:18:46 07/10/12 (16)
    • I loved this place, too - katjh 07:47:59 07/11/12 (0)
    • Hit the trail! - Granite Head 19:20:02 07/10/12 (14)
      • The trail to Phelps Lake, that is - Granite Head 19:24:20 07/10/12 (13)
        • The first leg brings you to the shores of... - Granite Head 19:31:53 07/10/12 (12)
          • And by the way, just for comparison - Granite Head 19:33:35 07/10/12 (11)
            • The lake is about 5 or 6 easy miles around - Granite Head 19:34:57 07/10/12 (10)
              • At one point the view opens up - Granite Head 19:37:41 07/10/12 (9)
                • It also slogs through sloughs - Granite Head 19:39:30 07/10/12 (8)
                  • Wildlife along the way - Granite Head 19:41:46 07/10/12 (7)
                    • The only megafauna - Granite Head 19:44:38 07/10/12 (6)
                      • image missing - Hoot 20:17:11 07/10/12 (1)
                        • Woopsie! Let's try this again - Granite Head 07:04:13 07/11/12 (0)
                      • But we got lovely views of the lake - Granite Head 19:48:43 07/10/12 (3)
                        • Lovin your TR, Granite Head! - katjh 07:53:54 07/11/12 (0)
                        • Thanks GH......... - skyrim 20:16:25 07/10/12 (1)
                          • Thanks.... - Gerry 02:52:16 07/11/12 (0)

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