Remembered in October

 Since 1985, every year on October 9, I remember a terrible-wonderful time of healing and abundant grace upon grace.

The first time I told the story was in the December 1986 issue of Family Computing magazine. On October 9, 2010, “Life-changing Grace,” a Living Lutheran blog post, remembered the 25th anniversary with gratitude.

Two days after the blog post published, October 11, 2010, I was one of the 65 ELCA Churchwide Employees to lose my position as part of a reduction in force.

I have not been as quick to write about this terrible-wonderful time. In the first months this was because, as a job seeker, I was counseled to refrain from public displays of vulnerability.  I kept a December 31, 2010, post private for just that reason.

Now gainfully employed and up to my neck in transition, I still can’t quite wrap my head and heart around it all. I need an existential extension for this writing assignment. Maybe, by the time October 11, 2012, rolls around, I’ll be so fully immersed in current life that the second anniversary will barely register.

God willing, there will be a lot of current life to keep me occupied. Any day now, Baby Walt is due to arrive, adding a joyous day to remember in October.

God bless us, everyone.
Sue Edison-Swift 
10/10/2011