On my hopes for
the next stage in an inspiring American life.
The oft-quoted,
and perhaps
misquoted, F. Scott Fitzgerald line that “there are no second acts in
American lives” is totally, utterly inaccurate. Many of the inspiring Americans
I’ve written about in this space had multi-act lives, full of distinct and
equally meaningful stages. And high on that list would be my Mom, Ilene
Railton, whose multi-act American life has included, among many other
stages: a childhood in Malden, Mass. as the daughter of second-generation
Jewish American immigrants; an undergraduate major in Anthropology at Barnard
College; a Master’s degree in Early Childhood Education from Bank Street
College of Education; numerous jobs in the field as a preschool teacher, day
care center director, child care resource and referral officer, and more;
marriage and motherhood and grandmotherhood; and, most recently, a decade of
work with Virginia’s
Bright Stars program.
Last week my Mom
retired from that job with Bright Stars, her last full-time gig in that
forty-year career in early childhood education. It’s been, as she’s said many
times, a perfect last job, incredibly exhausting and incredibly rewarding, tied
to all her prior jobs and experiences in the field but also linked to numerous
new and evolving American communities, issues, and pressing questions. I know
for a fact that she has impacted hundreds (at least) of young children and
their families, and that they have all likewise impacted her. And I know that
she won’t ever entirely disconnect from this kind of work and these communities
and issues, that she will always find ways to volunteer, to offer her time and
energy, to make a difference in the lives of the families and kids for whom she
has worked so consistently throughout these four decades.
But on the other
hand, it’s time for what’s next! So, AmericanStudies Elves, my final wish for
this holiday season is that my Mom find next stages and steps that challenge
her, enrich her, give her new horizons and opportunities and possibilities. She’s
already signed up for a writing class in the spring, and I can’t wait to read
more of her work, and to get to share it in this space when it makes its way
out into the world. But whatever her next act holds, I wish it be everything
she deserves, and I know it’ll be as inspiring as all that’s come before.
December Recap
this weekend,
Ben
PS. Wishes you’d share?
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