Editor’s Note

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).