What are you celebrating today?

We tend to think of celebrations as big events. Weddings. Fiftieth anniversary parties. The birth of a grandchild.

Nick and Judi on our cover are celebrating one of those milestone events: college graduation. It’s a big deal at any age, but it’s especially impressive doing it later in life with all of the distractions and responsibilities that come with age.

While big celebrations are fun and splashy and certainly joyful, not all celebrations come with an engraved invitation or a party.

The older I get, the more I appreciate the smaller celebrations in life. I try to look for something to celebrate every day. Sure, I’m looking forward to my son’s wedding in September and a nephew’s high school graduation later this month. Yet, it’s the small stuff that keeps me going.

HERE’S WHAT I’M CELEBRATING RIGHT NOW:

• Finding four bird nests in my yard (one unflappable mourning dove, two implacable robins and a sweet wren).

• Improving my eyebrow game. After chemo 4 1/2 years ago, my eyebrows never grew back. It’s taken me a while (and a few hundred dollars in pricey pencils), but I’m finally figuring it out. Some days are better than others (think Groucho Marx). I celebrate the good ones.

• Raising chickens. My neighbor and I ordered 12 chicks that should be arriving by mail (really) around the time this magazine comes out. The coop is under construction. Let me know if you want eggs.

Something else I’ll be celebrating is bike riding season. I have an upright, coaster-style bike with a basket, a bell and a light. I use it to run errands around my small village. From time to time I’ll meet up with my 82-year-old dad, and we’ll ride on the Towpath Trail in Peninsula — definitely a celebration-worthy activity.

Gas station attendant or convenience store clerk. It’s a toss-up which was my all-time favorite job (besides being editor of this magazine, of course).

I worked at a Medina gas station during college break in the summer of 1979. It paid slightly more than minimum wage — a big selling point. I pumped gas, checked oil and washed windshields.

My boss was aggressively crazy but fiercely protective of her student employees. She encouraged us to make up cash shortages by “hanging the pumps” — dangling the handle in a way that didn’t reset the pump. The next customer’s sale then started at a slightly higher amount.

Tied for best job was my summer at the Stop N Go store in Hinckley. I worked the 3-to-11 p.m. shift; Slush Puppies and popcorn were free.

Never great at math, I soon got fast at figuring out change because the cash register tallied total sales but didn’t calculate cash back. A low point was when my underage brother and his friends came in just before closing, grabbed several cases of cheap beer from the back cooler and plunked a wad of cash on the counter. I spent weeks afraid that I’d be arrested and have to delay my return to Miami University.

I’ll save my worst jobs for another column, but cooking Roman Burgers at Mr. Hero is right up there.

Jobs, careers, whatever you call them, finding the right fit has a lot to do with luck, education and a certain amount of pluckiness. An open mind helps, too. Skills acquired from a job build on each other, putting together invaluable knowledge that comes in handy in unexpected ways.

If you’re looking for a change, regardless of the reason, check out our package of stories starting with our cover couple, Debbi and Rick Sands (page 22).

Each week, veterans — many with minds upended by both seen and unseen battle scars — enter Dr. Walter Knake’s Beachwood office.

A welcoming flame glows from an electric fireplace. An Oriental rug blankets the floor. Propped everywhere are stuffed animals. The vibe is cozy and soothing. Except for the American and military flags in a corner and a large bulletin board packed with medals, patriotic badges and pins, the clinical psychologist’s office could be the den in a suburban home.

FAMILIAR ISSUES

Each Nov. 11, Americans honor military veterans. Knake treats the ones who rarely feel honored or respected; much of their energy is consumed by the psychological effects of their military service.

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is one issue. Others may be dealing with traumatic brain injuries or relationship issues, alcoholism, drug addiction or a combination of problems. About 70 percent of Knake’s patients are combat veterans who hear about his practice through word of mouth.

An average of 22 veterans commit suicide each day, according to statistics from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Aging veterans are the most vulnerable; 65 percent who died from suicide were 50 or older. Veterans made up 18 percent of all suicide deaths, according to most recently available statistics, but comprised just 8.5 percent of the county’s population.

Battlefield trauma and its long-term emotional consequences aren’t new. From the time people have fought wars, many carried the effects into middle and old age. Today’s PTSD was yesterday’s battle fatigue, shell shock or war neuroses.

As America continues losing its World War II and Korean War veterans, those who served in Vietnam are filling Knake’s appointment book. When people approach their 60s and 70s, most become increasingly reflective and have more time to think. For veterans, their thoughts often turn to their war experiences, he says.

They won’t be cheered by thousands or earn millions. They give, not take. Their work is behind the scenes. They cut hair. They mend band uniforms. They encourage young children to read and frail adults to walk.

Meet a few people over 50 who are changing our area.

CLEVELAND AMBASSADOR Leroy Wilson Jr.

Leroy is a super volunteer — and he has an award to prove it. The 2016 recipient of the David F. Leahy Award for Volunteer Excellence by Greater Cleveland Volunteers, he is an ambassador at Cleveland Hopkins International Airport where he directs visitors and offers information to them, and he delivers meals to homebound people through the Southeast Clergy Meals on Wheels. He also serves on their board of directors.

Leroy says he found out about volunteer opportunities through GCV and that his life has been enriched because he can help others in need.

A ROCKER FINDS A HOME

Elaine Minch

Elaine is a long-time rock ’n’ roll fan. After retiring as a pharmacy technician, she began volunteering for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum in Cleveland.

“My family owned and operated the Rollerdrome, a roller skating rink in Euclid, and during those days, rising musicians would be booked with Bill Randle and his Cavalcade of Stars. They would perform live, sign autographs and mingle with the crowds at the rink,” she says.

Elaine also volunteers at the Rock Hall Library and Archives at Cuyahoga Community College, where she catalogs donated vinyl record collections for the Tommy LiPuma Center for Creative Arts at Cuyahoga Community College Metropolitan Campus.

A TUTOR WITH A PURPOSE

Elva Fosh

Elva helps students read and achieve as a literacy tutor/team leader and literacy booster for Greater Cleveland Volunteers in the AARP Foundation Experience Corps program. She’s backed implementation of projects across grade levels with slight modifications that challenge higher-performing students.

The produce shelves in Family Grocer in Akron’s North Hill are a snapshot of the exotic.

Pumpkin leaves, tiny eggplants, colorful peppers almost too hot to touch. Prickly-looking vegetables, skinny squashes. These are the foods that help feed a community of Southeast Asian refugees and immigrants, among the latest to call this dynamic neighborhood home.

For decades, newcomers to this country have settled here and thrived. Italians, Poles, Hispanics and others followed family members for affordable housing and employment to gradually assimilate to their new country.

The learning works both ways. While they work to fit into their Northeast Ohio neighborhood, the existing residents gain plenty, too. Naresh Subba’s Family Grocer and dozens of other ethnic markets and restaurants are attracting people of all ages and ethnicities.

GROWING TOGETHER, NOT APART

In recent years, North Hill has been a centerpiece of refugee and resettlement due in large part to the International Institute of Akron. The agency on East Tallmadge Avenue is housed in an old brick building. Its labyrinth-like offices and cubicles host a steady stream of refugees and others seeking support.

These days, many clients are from Bhutan and other Southeast Asian countries. The agency earlier this summer received its first Syrian families. More are expected, said Liz Walters, IIA’s community outreach director.

Throughout the year, IIA hosts market tours and other events to introduce long-time residents to newer residents and their businesses. The small business owners — mostly of restaurants and markets — use the opportunity to talk about their immigrant or refugee experience. Refugees are people forced to leave their country, almost always because of violence. Immigrants are those who chose to leave, usually for economic or educational reasons.

Subba, 48, is Bhutanese and had lived in refugee camps in Nepal before moving to the area in 2002 to attend Kent State University.