In my seventy first autumn I am here at the keyboard in the studio of the homestead where my family and I have dwelt and toiled for the past thirty two years, longer than we have lived anywhere else. The place has treated us well, and we have reciprocated. We have designed, preserved, rebuilt and modernized the 150-year-old stone farmhouse and outbuildings and reclaimed outside space from decades of overgrowth and neglect. Carpentry, block and stone masonry, digging, stuccoing, plastering, framing, excavating, planting and pruning at times dominated and defined life here. The place has rewarded us by becoming friendlier, more comfortable, prettier and, happily, easier to maintain.
The more technical and physically demanding tasks I increasingly “job out” more readily these days to those younger, more resilient and more skilled than I. Because time now seems more precious to me than it did two or five decades ago, I am less possessive about personally owning the physical input that this country property demands. My dues in that regard are just about paid up.
Occasionally the journey here has been arduous, but almost always the returns have been manifold; I am harder and more capable and confident than I was in the beginning, and I now am connected to this plot of ground and its structures by thousands of images for as long as my memory remains intact. Such an intimate rootedness has given both me and Sally, my dear and enduring wife of nearly fifty years, unexpected and vivid perspectives on our earlier life in and around Washington, DC, and elsewhere, most particularly throughout our various travels abroad. Having such strong and complex ties between us and the home to which we may return at will has enriched our appreciation of foreign lands and cultures and has deepened our empathy with the people we encounter in those places who share that same sense of connection with their own homes.
Our son Bunky and our daughter Renee each returned several years ago from lives and careers elsewhere to participate in our family business and gradually to take over its management from us. We continue to be blessed with their presence and by frequent visits of our seven grandchildren, aged between 6 and 26 who bring with them individually and collectively a special lightness and cacophony.
Our website can be accessed at www.pressurepositive.com. The site contains extensive information on self care in managing muscular pain and dysfunction, mostly with the tools of our design and manufacture. It also contains links to other information sources as well as access to our own blogs, illustrated guides and our video series on self care.
Home life, whatever its challenges, has been richly rewarding, and we plan to continue on, in the company of family and friends, making whatever contributions we can to a more viable and peaceful national and world community.
Bernard L. (Bun) Gladieux, Jr. AB ‘59
