Inspire, Summer 2006

24 Summer 2006 W e are a Cedarville family in every sense of the word. My wife’s parents (Richard ’63 and Martha Short Davidson ’65) are grads as is my wife, Lisa (Davidson) ’89, who was at one time an English professor at Cedarville. I remain actively involved with Theta Rho Epsilon, a group which remains dear to my heart. My kids are on campus at least once a year, usually for Homecoming, and we have already launched the propaganda machine with leading questions like “Where will you go to graduate school after you finish at Cedarville?” So, when we were faced with the realities of trying to maintain balance in our lives, what sort of “Cedarville Solution” do you think we came up with? First, let me share with you some of the balls we are juggling. In order to survive and thrive, I must bill a certain number of hours per week for my law practice, commute in and out of Chicago (which eats up another three hours every day), and put in an hour of exercise (which my doctor tells me is not a luxury but a necessity in my case). There are also always a series of “unbillable” events every month such as client care and feeding, marketing, and internal management and recruiting functions. Lisa is in no better a position. She is completing her Ph.D. while raising two small children and running a household. She is also a terrific helpmeet in my practice. (In fact, my clients like her much better than they like me. I think they feel a little sorry for her.) Her situation is further complicated because our co-sheep at church don’t seem to understand that writing a Work/Life Balance: An Intergenerational Approach dissertation is not like sitting on the board of the “Bring Back the Petunia Association of Greater Frankfort.” So she is constantly inundated with requests from these nice folks to take on this or that additional ministry. As far as we have been able to tell, there is no “job sharing” a Ph.D., nor is there a splitting of a partnership at the eighth largest law firm in the world. Neither job can be done in a rural town where there is no traffic, no economic opportunity, and no access to a hub airport. We are years and years away from being able to retire and open that (insert this week’s silly dream) apple farm, bed and breakfast, college town coffee house, etc. No matter how we push, traffic doesn’t become less congested, trains don’t go faster, printers don’t print more speedily, and academic committees don’t rubberstamp anything. In fact, by our current estimation, our home will be completely overrun by unanswered e-mails sometime in the third quarter of 2007. We also don’t want our kids raised by a nanny (other than their real Nanny, who is 78 but who lives in Ohio and, while more beautiful than ever, is a bit confused these days). So, given these pressures, how can we find work/life balance? For us, one answer was found in our family. Lisa and I are able to do so much because her parents have chosen to devote their time to our kids. While others of their generation are combing the Florida beaches with metal detectors, Rich and Martha dutifully roll out of bed here in the frozen tundra and/or sweltering humidity of Chicago and get to work helping us raise our family. This goes far beyond by Paul McGrady ’93 Left to Right: Paul McGrady ‘93, Danny McGrady, Lisa Davidson McGrady ‘89, Martha Short Davidson ’65, Lily McGrady, Rich Davidson ‘63