Our group of six women sat around the conference room table of Waverly Hematololgy and Oncology, the place where I'd received my chemo years before and now participated in the first Expressive Writing Group. Mary Barnard, Office Manager and poet, was our group leader and was certified in teaching the Write to Heal program created … Continue reading Digging Up My Buried Shame
Author: conniesedona317
Share Your Cancer Story
“Come on in and join the party!” my friend Mary, the birthday ‘girl’ and host, welcomed me. She was in the midst of checking the beverage coolers, taking care of her guests. It was Saturday night and I was ready for a break from my growing lists of tasks: next steps in publishing my memoir, … Continue reading Share Your Cancer Story
You Are Enough
That Saturday morning a year ago, I stood waiting for the ferry that would take me across the sound to the island of Iona for my week's stay at the Abbey. I'd dreamed of going to Scotland to that historic pilgrimage site and it was becoming a reality. When the ferry workers were preparing for … Continue reading You Are Enough
Gather Yourself: Lessons in Scotland
"After all the dreaming, planning, and praying, I'm now at the threshold of Iona," I wrote in my journal a year ago as I looked across the white-capped-waters of the sound toward the stone buildings of the Abbey. I'd made it to the village of Fionnphort in the Inner Hebrides, where I'd booked a room … Continue reading Gather Yourself: Lessons in Scotland
New Beginnings: Moving Beyond the Gap
In last week's post, I left you sitting in The Gap, encouraging you to allow yourself to feel that anxiety that comes with uncertainty, finding a resting spot in that trough between Endings and New Beginnings (see Forced Endings: Struggling in The Gap) New Beginnings is that last stage of Bill Bridges Map for Change where … Continue reading New Beginnings: Moving Beyond the Gap
Forced Endings: Struggling in The Gap
When I was a child, I loved finding hiding places. Among them would be a ditch-like den between two hills where I could sink down into that spot, not able to see ahead or behind. The earthen floor and walls were protection from cold and wind, providing a cozy place to play. In last week’s post, … Continue reading Forced Endings: Struggling in The Gap
Afraid of the Next Chapter
The week I retired from school nursing reminded me of the week I got married; unbelievable that it was my turn to enter a new chapter of life. I’d watched many of my friends retiring like I’d watched those who married before me, observing them for how to approach that new venture, going to them for … Continue reading Afraid of the Next Chapter
Come Ride with Me
I've always been fascinated by trains. When I was a girl, there was a freight train that crossed through our farm. Sometimes it transported logs, and most of the time, we didn't know what was carried in those boxcars. When I was in first grade, Mama and we three daughters boarded the train in our … Continue reading Come Ride with Me
Let It Go
I rushed through the Hemmingway salad at lunch in order to get to the reason I’d come to the restaurant. A friend from Michigan suggested I stop in at Jesperson’s for a slice of cherry berry pie while I was visiting Petoskey on my solo journey that year. I’d ridden my bike along the Little … Continue reading Let It Go
Hope and a Future
A new chapter in our lives began six years ago when Mama went to live at Parkview Retirement Village in Sanford, our hometown. That day when we three sisters took Mama and faced the reality that we could no longer keep her safely in her home, was one of the most difficult days of my … Continue reading Hope and a Future
Connie Rosser Riddle 