At almost 91, Mattie Belle is one of my oldest readers. I've known her since I was in ninth grade and became friends with her daughter, Delores. I was so touched when she sent me this handwritten card after she read my memoir. Delores told me that when her mother finished my book, she loaned … Continue reading Just Enough Encouragement
divorce in your senior years
Independence Day
Today our country celebrates Independence Day. It's not a typical year of the crowd-gathering festivals and celebrations, but there'll be plenty of backyard barbecues and meals with family and friends. We take time to remember how our country earned its freedom and recognize that many men and women have sacrificed to maintain the liberties we … Continue reading Independence Day
Crossing over The Gap
In last week's post, "Trusting God in The Gap," I revisited Bill Bridges Map for Change that I'd learned in my Life Coaching Program. His model breaks the process into three phases: Endings, The Gap, and New Beginnings. I realized that I was struggling with being in the middle-- having partially worked through many Endings … Continue reading Crossing over The Gap
Trusting God in The Gap
This week I hit another milestone; after weeks of work my house was ready for market. The sign was placed in the yard on Wednesday evening and the reality of leaving this home hit hard with a mix of emotions; proud and gratified with how much I had accomplished; sad that the neutralized-house-that-doesn't-look-like-mine is becoming … Continue reading Trusting God in The Gap
Revisiting the Shifting Sands
Last year on this weekend, I was on my solo journey to the Outer Banks of North Carolina. That was a difficult trip because I knew while I was away, my husband would tell our sons that our marriage would be ending. But it was also a trip filled with beautiful sites, the salty breeze … Continue reading Revisiting the Shifting Sands
Mercy at the DMV
It was Tuesday morning. Better than Monday or Friday the news coverage had advised when they showed the long wait at the DMV-- Department of Motor Vehicles. I couldn't believe I was having to subject myself to the pain of standing in that long line. I'd sent in my renewal form earlier than usual. But a … Continue reading Mercy at the DMV
Write Your New Story for 2020
Stepping into 2020, a New Year, a New Decade I can't help but compare how different I'm starting this year from last, this decade from the one that started 2010. I'd assumed that my life would continue on the same trajectory that I'd anticipated of growing old with my husband and being married until we … Continue reading Write Your New Story for 2020
Not a Usual Christmas
Christmas trees have always been one of my favorite traditions of this holiday season. Recently, I toured the Biltmore House in Asheville during the special Downton Abbey Exhibition. The tour guide told us there were seventy decorated trees inside the house and seventy outside. Because of the massive rooms with high ceilings, most of the … Continue reading Not a Usual Christmas
Waiting for the View
Today I've been thinking about my solo journey five years ago to Michigan. The place I'd looked forward to visiting the most was Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. All the photos I'd seen of Lake Michigan from the vantage point of the dunes, showed a vast expanse of tropical-like water with varying hues of blue-green. … Continue reading Waiting for the View
A Time to be Nurtured
There are things I learned going through cancer that have served me well since that time-- now over nineteen years ago. One that came to mind on a hot day this past August, was the need to take breaks from your situation by getting away to another place. When I dealt with breast cancer, I … Continue reading A Time to be Nurtured
