It is a pleasure and a privilege.

Tuesdays used to be one of those days each week that were just "satisfactory." Usually, the work week is in full swing, projects are progressing nicely and time is being managed in a productive manner. The routines of the second day of the traditional work week went by in rote fashion. How disrespectful of me.

I often let the rays of sunshine help elevate my mood. On the days when the gray clouds and dreary rain cover the sky, my mood may be gray and dreary too.  What a headstrong and silly way to approach each day.

About fifteen years ago, my husband and I were fortunate enough to go see the Broadway musical "Rent" that was touring through our city. I could not wait to see the performance because I knew it was loosely based on Puccini's La Boheme and I am an opera nut. This musical experience moved me.

"Rent" was supposed to open off- Broadway exactly one hundred years after Puccini's opera. It opened one hundred years plus one day after the opera. The creative, young composer Jonathan Larson died suddenly from an undiagnosed aortic aneurysm the early morning of the scheduled opening night. He never got to see the success of his creation.

Why am I writing about a musical that is almost twenty years old? The truths told in this story are unforgettable. Because of the song called "Seasons of Love."

This song asks "How do you measure a year?--- In daylights,  in sunsets, in midnights, in cups of coffee... In inches, in miles, in laughter in strife. In 525,600 minutes- how do you measure a year in the life?" 

We are measuring time by days in our household these days. Our sixty three day countdown is nearing its end. I must say that today after a conversation with our Doctor that I was anxious about how much we still have to do. This evening, I am encouraged. I will stop measuring by Tuesdays or Fridays, or sunshine or rain clouds.

525,600 minutes...