Yesterday was our SSI Regional Group meetup. Four of us met for lunch at a local pizzaria grill type place. My co-leader and I have both been widowed for 12/13 years. The other two ladies that braved the snowy weather yesterday are more newly widowed, both less than a year into this often times unimaginable […]
Blog
Route 66 and a Trip Around the Sun
The first week of any new year can bring an unsettling mix of relief, new direction and incentive, angst, apathy and procrastination. Even if your holiday season was emotionally challenging with some bouts of nostalgic melancholy, the quiet inertia of the post-holiday season can be a let down when the world asks us to […]
2025 is Coming in Hot
Normally right before the new year, especially on New Years Eve, I look forward to a fresh new year and have a positive feeling. This was the first year in awhile, that I came into the new year cautious with a feeling of anxiety and unease. Regardless of how I feel, I still try to […]
Preparing for the Journey
Eight days from today Lola the Pup and I bid farewell to Robyn. Then, for the third consecutive year, we’re off to our Winter quarters in the American Southwest. I take this annual extended journey solely for me. The destination is not nearly as important as the journey. No one lives without regret; it’s a […]
TIME
Past to Present to Future In the 17th century, physicist Isaac Newton saw time as an arrow fired from a bow, traveling in a direct, straight line and never deviating from its path. It is January 8th where the movement of time is already on display in the year 2025. Only seven days […]
The Cycle of Time
And so begins another year. Another year of accepting a reality that looked so different than what I thought life would be. This year seemed to have started off so hectic. From another holiday season where it just felt like I was running on fumes trying to keep up with the world, yet still trying […]
Being able to Help
Last week, my Uncle Richard died. My dad’s brother, who had dementia for 12 years, lost that battle surrounded by his wife, my Aunt Debbie, and his daughters, my cousins. There will be a memorial service in a couple of weeks, and I have offered to help my Aunt write a eulogy, and Im also […]
Writing the “We-moir”
Welcome 2025. At this time each year, I feel as if a heavy weight has been lifted from me. Despite all the mental minefields carefully curated in my Museum of Magical Memories that are highlighted during the holiday season, I still honor, celebrate and respect the season, but welcome the lightness of the world as […]
Loss is Lifelong
Sometimes loss may be a positive thing. If you’re an athlete, for example, and your team loses, you learn from any mistakes, regroup, practice harder and come back better. Sometimes loss can be a proverbial bullet dodged. I’ve lost the bid on projects before to find out later that the client would have been a […]
For Us, An Uneventful New Year
Robyn had set her alarm. She wanted to see a local television countdown to the New Year but dozed right through it. Each year her favorite weather gal and handsome on-air partner perform a music and dance routine, followed by a slew of “media personalities” and minor performers. The program was about the last I […]
Poems and Prayers and Promises
Welcome 2025 We are each an eclectic version of the sum of our years. A painting created by the varied, countless elements of life. Specifically, our life. Such as, where were we born? What lessons did we take from the land of our birth, either consciously or by osmosis? Who were the mentors […]
Another New Year, Another Chapter Without You
As I sit here on New Year’s Eve reflecting on my day compared to all those past New Year’s Eves I can’t help but daydream about what we would be doing if you were still here today. Thinking about all our past memories and all those memories yet to be made that you will continue […]