Whole Lotta Holes

I gotta a whole lot of holes in my life. So goes a song by Kathy Mettea.

Holes in my jeans. Holes filled with gold in my teeth. A hole in my chest where my heart used to be. There are a lot of ways that our lives have holes in them.

This has certainly been quite the week. Julie left to go back to Atlanta on Sunday and I was not ready for her to return. I leave for Washington DC on Monday and have a world wind trip through the Capitol and the agencies. Yesterday the Board of Directors met and we celebrated how far Union Mission has come in a years time. Herb McKenize stood and gave a speech about me that would make an excellent obituary. It left me humbled and tearful.

Then I stood to review the performance outcomes from last year. They are impressive.

Over 6,500 patients obtained health care from the J. C. Lewis Health Center.

More than 4,000 received treatment and counseling from Parent & Child.

Over 400 people ended homelessness in 2009.

Over 300 were placed in full time jobs and move from Union Mission's housing programs into their own.

Local tax payers saved over $13 Million because of these results.

I was talking to my mother last night and we were discussing the costs of this work. Everything has a cost. Attacking work and life the way that I do helps achieve some impressive things that help a lot of people, but there are costs.

Yesterday, I also received an email from someone I work with. "You OK? I can tell by your netbook emails that you do not sound like yourself...just remember we all need and love you..."

But today, I am thinking about the costs of always being there trying to empty an ocean of need that never seems to get smaller. I am thinking about the holes. In the work. In me. I gotta a whole Lotta holes in my life.