Growing with gratitude for life's challenges
At fifty-nine, I was certain that I knew myself – accomplished, defined and established – but illness changed the framework from which my remaining time would unfold. I became a non-entity in my former career, and a ghost to friends. My children mourned the loss of their vibrant mother and settled into lowered expectations. […]
Read MoreI haven’t stopped laughing since it happened. By the time we got back down the mountain and found a place to eat (and relieve ourselves), I could not contain my giggles. The poor waiter must have thought I’d lost my mind. But, I’m getting ahead of myself. If you happened to catch yesterday’s post, you’ll […]
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“Don’t you get scared?” Yes and no, I think. Many things frighten me: a decline in my health, the loss of my spouse, something happening to one of my family members while I’m so far away from home. This is not what my mother is referring to, though. At 90, her view of the States […]
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The English language is full of expressions that have more than one application. To back up – along with its many forms – is one of them. For example, as in my last post, backed up is a euphemism for excrement that is not following the protocols of natural processing – or in our case, […]
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“I had lunch with some of your old colleagues yesterday and we were talking about you.” Never a good start to a conversation when your relationship to the mentioned parties ended the day you stopped working. “Oh, who?” The people mentioned are acquaintances, only one actually worked with me and it was before ME/CFS struck. […]
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“I’d like to be on the road by 10:00 am,” Ric told me the night before our five and half month stay at the beach trailer park ended. “There are high wind warnings for tomorrow afternoon, so we should be at our destination before they hit.” I had pushed myself the night before to get […]
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“How do you feel about everything that is happening?” my therapist asked me, last visit. “Good,” I responded, without hesitation. “I feel as if I’m breaking down barriers: embracing life and possibility, despite my illness.” Yesterday, I promised to rest, but there were boxes in the way, and nowhere to sit, so I unpacked one, […]
Read More“I feel like we’re on the edge of a whole new life,” I tell my husband as we cruise through the Santa Rosa Conservation area, nothing but white sand dunes and water on either side of us. “I feel it too. I just want to keep on going.” It’s our fifth week in the RV, […]
Read MoreOne day and forty-five minutes late, we are off on our new adventure. It is still dark outside and the temperature is minus seven Celcius. This is the first time I’ve been in the passengers seat and I am high up. The delay happened because Ric decided to have a mechanic go over the RV […]
Read MoreEight days in – each day a new adventure. Our two year plan to retirement includes winding down my husband’s business, selling off all our home and furnishings, and hitting the road in the 40′ RV we just purchased. Never having owned an RV before, we thought it would be a good idea to park […]
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One Woman's Quest II 