Today we awakened to a New Year. The past year went by as a vapor and now we look ahead, wondering what 2023 will hold; how will our future be?; what challenges will we encounter?; what great surprises await? Photo by Anna-Louise on Pexels.com Recently, when I was driving around Christmas shopping, I heard a … Continue reading Stepping Forward into 2023
finding hope
Bittersweet Christmas
It's just a week until Christmas and we feel ourselves get caught up in the anticipation and expectations of idealized holidays. Years ago I realized how difficult Christmas can be. My father died of a massive heart attack on December 13. I was just twenty-two years old, working in my first nursing position after college. … Continue reading Bittersweet Christmas
HOPE: Believing All Things Are Possible
This past week was one of change for me-- finishing up the previous chapter in Durham and moving to the next chapter in my new home in Apex--just 22 miles and one county away. Things went very well with my son, Ross and a friend loading the moving truck, my appliances arriving on time and … Continue reading HOPE: Believing All Things Are Possible
Opening the Door to a New Beginning
Last Thursday I took another step to move toward the next chapter of my life: I closed on a townhouse. I've never bought a home by myself. Unlocking the door for the first time, felt like having the golden key to my new kingdom. I was moving out of the muddy river of the in-between-time … Continue reading Opening the Door to a New Beginning
Return to Jekyll Island
It's been seventeen years since I took my solo journey to Jekyll Island, Georgia. That trip followed a triumphant visit with my oncologist. I'd made it to that important five-year mark post triple-negative breast cancer. I'd also made it to my fiftieth birthday and the trip to Jekyll was my gift to myself. I'd learned … Continue reading Return to Jekyll Island
Order My Steps
Sometimes, when I realize the passing of time, it hits me like a gut punch. That happened this morning when I saw my note from three years ago in my devotional book. I'd commented on attending my cousin's son's wake and the weight of that grief, her loss as a mother. How can that be, … Continue reading Order My Steps
Seasons: Online Dating
I left in summer for Scotland and returned in fall--with the trees in the beginning of their autumnal hues and displays of pumpkins and mums in stores and on porches. How quickly life moves forward from day to day and season to season. It catches me by surprise--no matter how much I orient myself with … Continue reading Seasons: Online Dating
Ireland: People in My Path
This post is coming to you very late. I've been recovering from my return home yesterday: up at 7:00 a.m. in Shannon, Ireland, 12:30 flight from Shannon to the States---Newark Airport, five-hour layover there, 70 minute flight from Newark to Raleigh-Durham Airport, and finally home and to bed at 11:00. Twenty-one long hours from rising … Continue reading Ireland: People in My Path
Mattie B : Beta Reader
Last Monday following my weekly post the day before, "Swimming Lessons," I thought about ideas for upcoming posts. I never know when the ideas will come, so when they do, I pay attention. I'd just completed a draft of my preface and Chapter I of the sequel to my memoir, He Heard My Voice, published … Continue reading Mattie B : Beta Reader
Music: A Gift Over Time
When I was doing Life Coaching sessions, I had clients who were trying to find their true selves. They'd gotten bogged down in life, being the responsible adults they 'should be'; they'd lost who they were before adult responsibilities weighed them down. I'd suggest activities that would help them go back to what they loved … Continue reading Music: A Gift Over Time
Connie Rosser Riddle 