My mother worked harder every single day of her life than I have ever worked in mine. She was what is termed in today's vernacular a "stay at home mom". She raised four children to become upstanding, self-reliant adults and took care of her husband, home and family from sun up to sun down three hundred and sixty five days a year.

My parents never took a vacation. They did not have many of the extras and frills of life that current generations have come to think of as necessities. We rarely went out to dinner and when we did it was nothing fancy. Life was an uphill journey for my mother and most of her generation. To the best of my recollection, she never complained.

Laundry was an all day chore done with the good old-fashioned wringer washing machine with clothes hung on the line to dry. Everything needed ironed. Floors were scrubbed and furniture dusted weekly. Meals were prepared from fresh ingredients and dessert, when we had it, was something as simple as a home-made cake or pie. I learned early how to make a flaky pie crust - a skill I have regrettably let lapse.

My mother worked hard and all of her work had meaning for the survival of the family.

Fast forward to my life today. I am not a "stay at home" anything. From the time I was pushed unwillingly out the door to attend kindergarten I have never "stayed at home" again. Kindergarten was followed by twelve years of formal education, followed by four years of college, followed by entrance into the workplace - a place I have never left. I have taken on the role of wife. I "keep house" well enough to not be considered a slob.

I'm not sure a lot of it amounts to very much of importance. In my high-tech office I am bombarded with e-mails, faxes, computer glitches on a daily basis that waste untold amounts of time, phone calls and interruptions of every sort. I push a lot of paper from my desk to the desks of others. I receive a lot of paper that is pushed my way. I made notes and comments, buy and sell products all day long. I am in the middle of a distribution supply chain that creates many levels of busy work.

This is a great deal of what our society has become. Don't get me wrong. I am grateful for my computer and the technology it brings that lets me be a part of the world-wide community. I enjoy the convenience of instant access to information. I remember looking up library books using the Dewey Decimal System at school and I don't miss that one bit.

What I do miss is a sense of

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