At 5:30am Thursday, I received a text from my brother John (I was already up). He, his wife and son were in the Hartsfield Airport in Atlanta, GA, waiting to board a plane for California. They were travelling to attend the Services for Oliver Tree, who is the son or our cousin Christine and her […]
Miscellaneous
Ramblings
It’s another one of those weeks where I really have a lot of my mind, but trouble writing about it. One of the things is the passage of time. I’m not sure I really valued time as much as I do now before loved ones in my life started dying, which is a bit of […]
Staring at the blank page before you ….
Spent a lot of time this week reminiscing … reading the old blog I started right after Vern died, looking through photos of special times I had with Jim and with Vern, and beginning to write in a new personal blog for this time in my life after losing Jim. I am so very […]
Moving Forward in the Garden of Chaos
I took a few days off this past week to spend some time with some very good friends in New England. I am posting from the Manchester-Boston Regional Airport on a cool overcast morning. While up here I’ve loved viewing the beautiful older homes surrounded by gardens filled with native flowers and hard wood forests, […]
Aging Gracefully … and Wisely
When I lost Vern I was 59. I felt young – even though a young widowed group on Facebook told me otherwise when they declined my request to join them (55 was their limit). Ouch. Back then the thought of facing 30 years alone was daunting. How would I manage it? Would I have to […]
Compassion Burnout and Enduring Hope
For the past 15 years I’ve blogged and authored books on the topic of the positive effects of the dog-human relationship. My dog Quint came into my life just seven weeks after my late husband’s passing and has been my quintessential companion since the earliest days of my loss. It’s hard to believe that Quint’s […]
Trying to Have a Summer
I’ve been desperately trying to have a summer while dealing with a cavalcade of problems on many fronts. My attempt to get out and relax in nature this past Sunday pretty much sums it up. Here’s what happened … Saturday night I got my inflatable kayak out. It lives in a large bag. I opened […]
Saying Goodbye
Well … I must say that I’m quite happy that June is in my rearview mirror. And it occurred to me that perhaps there might have been a subliminal reason for why I was sick for nearly that whole month. Jim’s Celebration of Life was held in June No – I wasn’t invited No […]
Happy Re-New Year
Good morning. Here I am again writing on a Saturday that happens to be a major American holiday; this one celebrating the 250th anniversary of the USA. As many of us who are widowed know, weekends coinciding with holidays can often prove to be draining instead of festive; delivering a double emotional whammy. I still […]
Don’t Let the Hard Days Win
I fully expected to be able to write today and share the excursions Sheila and I have taken this week. Instead, my only excursions have been to doctor offices. I am so tired of this. I’m grateful that I’ve been pretty darn healthy most of my 75 years (in spite of my poor eating habits […]
Planting Hope With the Tree of Life
Tuesday, June 30th, would’ve been the 66th birthday of my late sister, Manette. Each year, I recount the story of how my horse-loving sister magically acquired a lovely, but feisty, Arabian Quarter Horse mix in 1973 when my family spent 9 months living in Boulder, Colorado. My essay, The Year of the Dream Horse, a […]
Resolve
“He who is firm and resolute in will moulds the world to himself.” — Johann Wolfgang von Goethe I’m still dealing with my kitty, Freya, who is stumping veterinarians with severe anemia. Everyone has been guessing with a diagnosis of IMHA, or Immune-Mediated Hemolytic Anemia. It’s a scary mouthful and an even scarier and often […]