It was 45 years ago that I resigned my position as cost accounting manager for American Can Company, seeking a more meaningful life.
I left a well-paying job with a “bright” future, uncertain of where I was going, but following my instincts and whatever divine guidance was mysteriously moving through me.
I stepped into Dr. Nasson Hall’s office, Chairman of the Sociology Department at the University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee. I desired to be admitted to the master’s program in sociology and obtain a teaching assistant position, an added benefit that would allow me to earn some money, as diminutive as it would be, to support my family and our new, simplified lifestyle. I had never taken a sociology course.
Dr. Hall loved my audacity and the life-altering approach I had taken. I was soon a student again, five years subsequent to completing my bachelor’s in accounting from Syracuse University.
I was open to anything and little did I realize that I would meet my mentor, Dr. Lakshmi Bharadwaj. Professor Bharadwaj was a profound, brilliant and compassionate Gandhi sociologist who gracefully took me under his wing. A whole new world began to reveal itself and reaffirmed the inner guidance that changed my life.
Your Professor Bharadwaj reminds me of the roofing company that just completed a re-roofing job on my house. The supervisor, at the direction of the owner, cut off several tree branches I wanted cut off but couldn’t manage on my own. The owner gave me gutters and gutter guards so I wouldn’t have to worry about cleaning the gutters. He re-roofed my garage even though it didn’t need it, just to make it match the house. They assured me the insurance money would cover everything; I had thought the insurance settlement was modest.
My point being there are people with tremendous kindness and generosity of spirit and how blessed we are when we are the beneficiaries of that.
a haiku for jeff
graced with humility
guided by light and spirit
jeff jerebker rocks