We are now in the home stretch of Directors School. I am currently sitting in a class listening to a presentation of Fiscal Resources Management. The more I sit in on these classes and have an opportunity to interact with the students the more I am impressed not only with the faculty but with the caliber of people who are currently in the field providing parks and recreation services to communities across the country. These professionals are hungry for knowledge and are passionately engaged in all of the sessions. They are high energy, challenging and thirsty for every kernel of information they can get. I am so impressed and so humbled. This school goes by so fast. It will be over by tomorrow evening. But the learning and networking will go on far longer than the short week here and benefit the communities that they all serve.

All of this has just served to reinforce my love of the educational process. The sharing of knowledge, the interaction of teacher and student, the joy of discovery, the blessing of sharing, the struggle, the laughter, the learning and growing – how does it get any better than this? I look out on this group of students right now and feel extremely blessed that they are the ones in the trenches making it happen in the field of parks and recreation. I started out in this field because I loved the educational process but did not buy into the traditional educational system. And over the years I have never regretted being in this field. When I decided to move out of teaching in after school programs, my goal was to make sure that the types of programs and services offered through parks and recreation would continue on as I experienced first hand the differences these programs made in people’s lives, including my own. And I sit here right now and am feeling that I have come full circle. To be able to be part of this very special educational process makes me feel that in some small way I am making good on the promise I made to myself years ago. As I see the passion of these students, I have no doubt that our profession will continue to carry on.

What did I do to deserve to being involved in such a special program? I am so glad that goes around comes around – and I am so glad that I was around when it came back around.

Who will ever forget the picture – Baby leaning on the railing with her cute little dress and sweater, dreaming of what was to come – the stone covered pathway and the camera panning back to this big rustic resort building known as Kellermans –   Baby sneaking a peak through the window as old man Kellerman talks to the service staff, and then seeing Johnny Castle for the first time. I can see those moments from that movie so clearly.

The setting of Kellermans seemed so perfect for the story of Dirty Dancing- the beautiful scenery, lake, cabins and tons and tons of activities from which to choose. What an ideal way to spend some time during the Summer. I always hoped one day to visit a place like Kellermans. Three years ago I got my wish when I was asked to be an instructor for the National Recreation and Park Association’s Directors School. The school was to be held at the Oglebay Resort and Conference Center and although many of my colleagues were very familiar with Oglebay, I had never been there before.

Oglebay is about a one hour drive from the Pittsburgh airport. I can remember that first year renting a car and making that trek to Wheeling, seeing a huge Cabelas store on the way and enjoying the experience of traveling to a new part of the country.  I got to Wheeling and immediately began seeing the signs that direct you Oglebay via a winding road filled with numerous twists and turns. It felt like I was driving on that road for a very long time and then, all of a sudden, there it was – Kellermans! No, it was not the same building as in the movie, but the same rustic resort-type feel that greeted Baby in the movie greeted me at Oglebay. There is a porch lined with rocking chairs at the main entrance to guest registration. It reminded  me of the rocking chair that Baby’s father sat in as he sadly stared at the lake and wondered where his innocent daughter had gone. Individual cabins line the trails around the resort and I could imagine all of the “dance staff” popping out of any of them at any given time. The lake, the paddle boats, the stables, the golf courses – all aspects of what I envisioned Kellermans to be. You can stand at the top of a hill and watch the deer romp on the property. You see a father and son fishing in the lake. A trolley makes regular stops by the front porch to take guests to visit various places in the park. The resort even has a small zoo with quite an impressive stock of animals. And the trademark hanging plants stationed on just about every pole. The restaurant was also reminiscent of Kellermans with multi level seating and beautiful views. And then there was the library. The library is actually a small pub-type restaurant and lounge nicknamed the library by the school students who tend to spend some time there during the course of the week sipping a few brews and making friends that will last a lifetime. Oglebay is definitely a magical place. And in a few days I will be happily on my way back to my Kellermans. I look forward to it every year. And although there are no Johnny Castles there, I have found it to be a wonderful place to learn, refresh and renew. And who knows, there may even be an evening of “dirty dancing” in the library!

Its after dinner and I am sipping a glass of wine and thinking about benchmarks. I have to admit this thought did not come to me out of the blue but rather it was influenced by a blog written by one of my former students. In the blog she posted today she recalled the significant benchmarks that occurred between her last two hairdresser appointments. And yes, they were significant. It got me to thinking about the benchmarks in my life, especially the more recent ones. And although the time between my last two hairdresser appointments have not yielded the monumental changes she wrote about, the last ten years or so especially since I left Chicago have. I guess the trip my husband and I are planning back to Chicago is playing into these thoughts.

I left Chicago in 1999. If someone would have told me in 1998 that I would wind up living in Boulder, Colorado I would have laughed at them. The world is so much smaller these days. When I grew up people stayed in the city where they were born until they died. My parents were born in Chicago and lived their whole lives there. Yes they did retire to Florida but one of the driving factors for that move was the fact that my brother moved there several years earlier and so they felt they would still be close to family. When they moved, I was the sole remaining Drabik left in Chicago and my upbringing did little to make me think that I would ever live anywhere else. So I thought I would live in Chicago my entire life.

But things changed dramatically for me in 1993 when the Chicago Park District reorganized and I began working with a whole different level of talent and experience than the District had ever know before. One of the more life changing experiences I had was working with a woman who became the most influential mentor I ever had. She opened my eyes to a world of professional possibilities. She made me believe in myself. She pushed me, supported me and kicked me in the butt when I needed it. Her influence is directly responsible for me going after the job in Dayton, Ohio and making me believe that I was good enough for the job in Boulder.

But all of that meant leaving Chicago behind. And to the surprise of many including myself, I did. And although I have not lived in Chicago since 1999, I have been back to Chicago a couple of times since then. And when I went back I realized that there was a lot to the saying that you can never go home again. The old neighborhood where I grew up and the neighborhood that my husband and I lived for twenty plus years were not the same. The big old tree in front of my parents house was gone and replaced by a concrete pad. I guess no one wanted to mow the grass. The houses on Oakdale where Nick and I used to live were razed and in their place were three story single family dwellings. Our neighbors of twenty plus years were either gone or deceased. It simply was not the same. The city I had lived in all of my life was now not my city anymore.

Soon I will be going back to Chicago. I have not been back there for over 8 years. Why am I so excited to go back? What fascination does the city of Chicago still hold? I know what I will find. I know it will not be the same. I mean, what happened to Marshall Fields? The last time I was in Chicago I visited Marshall Fields on State Street. If I go there this time it will be Macys. Am I ready for that? The last time I was in Chicago Miegs Field was still there. Last I heard it got bulldozed in the middle of the night and park land left in its place. And now I hear they have a casino in Rosemont. Changes, changes, changes. So why do I want to subject myself to the sad fact that things will be so different from when I lived there and that life went on without me?

The difference this time is that I know that in all likelihood I will never live in Chicago again – and I am at peace with that. The difference is that I live in Colorado, I love Colorado and I have no intention of leaving Colorado. The difference is that I have accepted that life moves on and that Chicago will never be the same. But why should it?  No matter what you do or where you live, live moves on. That’s just a simple fact and fighting it is senseless. But the one thing that will not change and that no one can ever take away from me are the memories I have of growing up and living in that wonderful city. They are precious, they are mine and they will never change. And although Colorado is my home, Chicago is my heart. Be it ever so humble, I am who I am because of growing up and living in Chicago. And so it will always be – sweet home Chicago.