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
taking risks
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
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
One Fun Night in Dublin
On September 8th, when Kim and I were waiting for our flight to Scotland at the Raleigh-Durham Airport, news came of Queen Elizabeth II's passing. The next days, as we walked through the historic cobblestone streets of Edinburgh, preparations had started for the arrival of her procession from Balmoral. What pageantry followed as Great Britain's … Continue reading One Fun Night in Dublin
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
In Our Daughters’ Footsteps: Mission Completed
We've anticipated this trip since August of 2019-- when Kim asked me to join her in bringing her mother's ashes to Skye. At that time, I said I was honored that she'd asked me, but inwardly, I wasn't sure how it would work for me to travel with her at the planned time--one year later, … Continue reading In Our Daughters’ Footsteps: Mission Completed
The Things That Hold Us Back: Solo Journeys
The countdown continues to September 8th when I take off on my trip to Scotland and Ireland with my cousin. I made progress this week on my to-do and packing list. There's enough time to get everything done now that I'm retired--unlike previous journeys where I was still working. It would seem that if you … Continue reading The Things That Hold Us Back: Solo Journeys
In Our Mothers’ Footsteps
It's less than three weeks now until my cousin, Kim and I will take off on our trip. The journey will bring us closer together just as our mothers were close. Her mother, Yvonne and mine, Mary were first cousins and best friends. Kim Casto McCaskill and Connie Rosser Riddle August 2022 Back around the … Continue reading In Our Mothers’ Footsteps
Non-Negotiables: Online Dating
Over the past months as I've ventured further into the world of dating, I've been chewing on the concept of Non-Negotiables. With the online match sites, I've read hundreds of profiles since I joined almost two years ago. In those descriptions of what that person is like, what they're looking for, they begin outlining their … Continue reading Non-Negotiables: Online Dating
Happy 99th Birthday, Mama!
Today would have been Mama's 99th birthday. She died in April of 2020 in the midst of the pandemic--not from Covid but from a natural end-of-life after years of decline from dementia. Our family was lucky that the disease did not impact her personality as it does with many; she remained a gentle and kind … Continue reading Happy 99th Birthday, Mama!
Connie Rosser Riddle 