In July I celebrated my graduation from Capella University with my Ph.D. degree in psychology with a gala event. My whole family came to town for the occasion and we had a wonderful party with family and friends to celebrate the last step in my academic career. What a great time it was. I felt as if it had been years since my family and I were in the same room together. It filled my heart with joy and gratitude, and I think you'll agree that perhaps the greatest family portrait in the history of photography was taken at the time!I taught an Introduction to Psychology course at a small local career college during the Summer. It was an excellent way to gain classroom experience and watch young people learn and grow.
Twyla and I took a trip to Kansas City MO to visit her sister and brother-in-law. They are fantastic people and treated us royally while we were there. This visit came only a few weeks after traveling to Rock Valley IA for a visit with her brother and sister-in-law - also super folks - who also treated us to the places where Twyla grew up as a young woman. We got a chance to see the family farm where she was raised and enjoyed some good ole' fashioned mid-Western hospitality. It was fun and I really appreciated the warm feelings I got from Arlene and Bill in Missouri and John and Millie in Iowa.
Twyla also took part in a women's Triathlon here in the Twin Cities this summer. For the life of me I have no idea where she gets the energy to do all the physical activity she does. She ran a good race with several hundred yards swimming, bicycling for several miles, and running for a few miles more. But, she's in great shape and there may be some kind of lesson in that for me to get out and exercise more.
I went to Ely MN around Labor Day to visit with my good friends George and Mary Kay who love their cabin there and are very generous to let me stay a while and soak up "the good life." I'm amazed at how easy it is for my compulsive workaholism to be shoved into the back seat when I'm in Ely and it continues to be a wonderful place to go for me to re-charge the batteries.
This past weekend, my good friend Kelli (George and Mary Kay's daughter) had a spectacularly beautiful wedding and it provided a fitting celebration for the end of Summer. It was a gorgeous day and a magnificent event that was literally produced by dozens of people. I had a chance to reprise an old career role as a photographer for the event and I had a great time taking more than 600 candid photos of everything from the "Big Dip" finish of the bride and groom's first waltz to the kids gulping down handfuls of cake. They're a great family and an important part of my life.
To cap off this wonderful Summer experience, I was hired on as an Adjunct Assistant Professor at the Hazelden Graduate School for Addiction Studies where I teach the Group Therapy course. This is a dream come true. I now work with the next generation of alcohol and drug counselors...teaching them not only what I have learned about psychology through my own academic work, but also what I know from my 23 years experience working in the field. The Grad School also renewed my contract for next semester, so I'll be teaching through May there and love every minute of it.
The frosting on the cake came when a small and very prestigious liberal arts college in Minneapolis, Augsburg College, hired me as an Adjunct Assistant Professor to teach the Principles of Psychology course there next semester. Oh, what a joy that was to get the call asking me to come on board the psychology department there!
At last, with the Grad School and Augsburg I have two teaching opportunities that will carry me through the first half of 2013.
Of course, I am forever grateful to be clean and sober through all this wonderful activity. And, there's a lesson in this: I know I would never have any of these things in my life if I were not in recovery. So, my involvement with Narcotics Anonymous and my personal program of recovery is an important ingredient of my daily routine.
All the best,
Roger W.
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