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
Breast Cancer Survivor
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
Leaving it All Behind
This week I’m remembering my solo journey to Michigan. Right before that trip, we’d had a stressful move from our home of twenty years in the country to our downsized house in a neighborhood in town. The negotiations of selling our home and buying the new one came at the end of my year as … Continue reading Leaving it All Behind
Free to Be Me
During the week in which we celebrated our country’s independence, our freedom, I think about what it means to be free as an individual-- not to say and do things that hurt others, but to be my unique self. It seems that much of my ability to just be me has been limited by my self-consciousness, my over … Continue reading Free to Be Me
Happy Cancerversary!
Cancerversary is a ‘milestone defined by you’ according to the National Coalition for Cancer Survivorship #cancerversary. That’s what June 22 is when I celebrate my survivorship from triple-negative breast cancer diagnosed in 2000. While my situation was cancer, your life-changing event may have been divorce, sobriety, or some other thing that irrevocably altered your life. Each … Continue reading Happy Cancerversary!
A Father’s Care
I’ve thought a lot about a father’s care over the past six weeks as I’ve watched my son, Brooks become a father. You can see the joy, the weight, the responsibility, the wonder of his new role as he tenderly cares for his baby boy. From the time Brooks knew they were going to be … Continue reading A Father’s Care
Daily Bread at Tibbett’s Point
It was June and I was celebrating being a 10-year Breast Cancer Survivor, a decade since I’d heard the words, “You have cancer.” I wanted to take my summer journey to a special place, the seventh solo trip that had turned into yearly pilgrimages. Thumbing through a resource book for hostels in the U.S., I … Continue reading Daily Bread at Tibbett’s Point
Connie Rosser Riddle 