Growing with gratitude for life's challenges
Armed with our passports, cameras, binoculars, and travel mugs, we headed to wall country, piloted by seasoned birders who graciously offered to show us around. “Have you been to Boca Chica?” our host asked. “No, but it’s on my list,” Ric responded. So we set off, the early morning sky a wash of blushed peach. […]
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Two years ago, I was barely able to get out of bed. Two years ago, I wondered if life would ever get better, or if I was doomed to a future of isolation and deprivation. Words were the weapon I employed to battle my way out of the kind of depression that accompanies debilitating illness. […]
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“I sat in the waiting room, naked from the waist up save for the hospital green awkwardly tied in front. This was a call back: not the kind you pray for after an audition. “In nine out of ten times, it’s nothing,” the voice had said over the phone. She added they wanted to do […]
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It’s been abnormally cold in Texas, and so we’ve devoted a few days to finishing up the interior painting we started last summer. (Yes, procrastination defines us.) Yesterday, the temperatures were back up in the double digits, so we set out on the golf cart and toured the property looking for birds. Just a […]
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Before illness, I counted days and hours, not out of drudgery – I had stretched myself beyond normal limitations. Before illness, I wore responsibility like a hero and defined by work, prioritized tasks above well-being. Before illness, I joked about the disabled, lounging around, living the life of leisure, usurping the system. Before illness, I […]
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Lured by the promise of a rewarding birding experience, Ric and I decided to take the drive to McCallen and check out Quinta Mazatlan. As usual, I worry about the amount of walking involved when visiting a new locale, but we were reassured by those in the know that there is a house on the […]
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“Have you seen any of those white-crested, pot-bellied snowbirds?” one man asked us in passing. “Don’t see that one on our list; will have to write a special report,” I responded, chuckling. We were participating in the Audubon annual Christmas Bird Count. Armed with mugs of hot coffee and tea, binoculars and cameras, and our […]
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We came away with the expectation of adventure. We freed ourselves of material anchors and set sail into the unknown with openness, excitement, and a modicum of healthy trepidation. I knew we would encounter new landscapes, experience different foods and cultures, but I did not anticipate how travel would effect my experience of self. It […]
Read MoreI just want to hold my breath and make this day last forever! For the first day in I can’t remember how long, my illness has not been on the forefront of my attention. After snow a few days ago, Texas weather is back to more moderate temperatures, with a high of 22 degrees celsius. […]
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FaceTime, phone calls and videos exchanged cannot replace in-person chats and hugs, especially when the recipients are grandchildren. I miss chasing eighteen-month-old Auggie around the house, or cuddling with Sloane to “watch something”, or exploring the million why’s of Finn. I miss my grown children, family and friends whom I value deeply. Homecoming, I know, […]
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One Woman's Quest II 