A Defining Letter?

Anyone else have one letter of the alphabet that begins words that seem to sum up and repeat themselves all throughout their lives? My letter is the lowly R. No I’m not a pirate and there is nary an R anywhere in my name, yet R has been popping up and even predominating, during what I sometimes consider my meager existence. For years, as a teacher, I planned my lessons, set my alarm, and focused on the three Rs, reading, writing, and ‘rithmetic, day in and day out. Then I retired (another R), unplugged my alarm, and put away the schoolbooks. Now the grandsons are back and I find myself setting the alarm on my phone, making hot oatmeal on cold mornings, and making a trip to school (even though it is only to drop them off) all over again.

Today is our trash pickup day and as I return to the house, I notice ours is the only one with a full recycling bin (or any bin even though I know everyone has one-they aren't putting them out) beside the big black can on my block. Reduce, reuse, recycle (three more Rs) is my motto, one of them anyway, and I have been faithful to it for a long time and plan to continue to be. Why reinvent the wheel? is another motto and reduce, reuse, and recycle works with that too. There is already enough trash and clutter in our world, and I plan to try to add as little as possible to that.

My most recent set of Rs includes Run, Rest, and Repeat. These three are important because now that I am retired I am finally taking care of me and I like it. When I’m not concentrating on being active I find myself returning to two of the first three Rs I mentioned here, reading and writing, but instead of for my job, for pleasure. Which letter of the alphabet sums it all up for you?