In last week's post, Return to Jekyll Island, I'd made a stop in Georgia, retracing steps from my first intentional solo journey, and was headed on to my final destination of Florida. This is how I introduced the reason for my trip: "I'll be reunited with a friend from the Netherlands who I met at … Continue reading Faith and Friendship: No Boundaries
Iona scotland
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
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
Happy 300th Post!
Hard to believe but this is my 300th post for this blog site that I launched May 31, 2017. I started this after attending the Blue Ridge Mountain Christian Writers' Conference where I pitched my memoir to literary agents. The prevailing wisdom was authors needed a platform to build a following of readers who would … Continue reading Happy 300th Post!
Return to Scotland
It's been four years now since my first trip to Scotland. The previous March, I'd retired from my full-time position as a middle school nurse and wanted to celebrate with a trip to Europe. My husband went with me on the first part of the journey to Paris, London, and then Edinburgh. He returned to … Continue reading Return to Scotland
Iona: Three Years Later
It's been three years since I was preparing for my first solo journey abroad-- my trip to Iona, Scotland. I wondered then how my week-long retreat at The Abbey, an ancient pilgrimage site, would impact me later. Our theme for the week, "The Pilgrimage of Life" had been part of what drew me. Throughout those … Continue reading Iona: Three Years Later
Live Boldly!
This past week I was nostalgic, thinking of the last week of September in 2017 when I was in Iona, Scotland. Each day I've remembered what our group of forty retreat participants were doing. There are things that I learned there that have stayed with me. That Saturday before we checked in at the Abbey, … Continue reading Live Boldly!
Serendipitous Friend: Treasure from Iona
Over the past few days, I've felt a longing for Iona, Scotland. It has been two years since I traveled there on my Solo Journey, the first to an international pilgrimage site. I chose that island located in the Inner Hebrides to attend a week at The Abbey. There I joined forty other participants in … Continue reading Serendipitous Friend: Treasure from Iona
The Stranger on the Bus
We stood at the West Tisbury shuttle bus stop on a Saturday afternoon in Martha’s Vineyard. I’d been experiencing that island in Massachusetts for the first time, staying in a hostel for $27.00 a night—the only way I could afford that expensive place. I’d enjoyed the morning at the Farmer’s Market at the Grange Hall … Continue reading The Stranger on the Bus
Things You Leave Behind
It's New Year's Eve and I'm remembering that day in September when I stood with the others on the shore of Iona Sound. All forty-one of us from the Abbey were invited to take a pilgrimage to all the important sites on the island. That portion of the beach was where St. Columba and his … Continue reading Things You Leave Behind
Connie Rosser Riddle 