Not All Work Comes With a Paycheck.

Welcome to my Monday Morning Message

Today is Labor Day. A day when we honor the contributions of American workers. But this morning, I also want to reflect on another kind of work: the quiet, unpaid work people have done to help us become who we are.

I want to honor my late mother, Joan Flynn Lawson. A mother of ten who somehow had enough love to spread all over New Jersey. She survived divorce and the loss of a child, yet still gave everything she had to her children and her community.

She was fiercely devoted to her faith, her family, and anyone in her orbit who needed help. And in the chaos of raising ten children, she would sometimes run through half our names before landing on the right one: Cat, Chris, Colin, Carol, Celia, Colette, Colleen, Cheryl, Craig, Cory… Even the dog’s name, Ginger, was often called before the correct one!

That kind of work rarely comes with a title or a paycheck. It happens in classrooms, car rides, kitchens, and ordinary conversations.

It is done by encouraging coaches, patient teachers, kind neighbors, devoted parents, and countless others.

I can’t help but think it may be some of the most important work there is.

This Labor Day, here are three simple ways to honor that work:

Remember it. Think of someone whose patience or belief helped shape your life.

Name it. Tell them specifically what they gave you: “You believed in me before I believed in myself,” or “Something you taught me has stayed with me all these years.”

Pass it on. Offer that same encouragement to someone else. Especially a young person who needs to know they are seen, or an older neighbor who could use a warm smile and a hello.

Happy Labor Day. Life is Good!

Warmly,

Colette