Thursday, January 8, 2015

A New Chapter Starts....

We have a new year.  I have a new life and a new "normal."  

My last thirty years (although I go back way further than that) can be described as BF (Before Fred), WF (With Fred), and now AF (After Fred).  Each segment a new and different chapter in my life.

In my BF years, I lived either with my children around or alone, moved across the country to California, gave seminars, and started college at age fifty.  It took me five years of working days and going to school nights, but I graduated with honors and my AA degree.  I had the opportunity to go on a cruise to the Mexican Riviera where I parasailed in Mazatlan, went horseback riding in Puerto Vallarta, and snorkeled in Cabo San Lucas.  My girlfriend and I went to Hawaii where we parasailed, then climbed Diamond Head.  

In my WF years, two very independent people tied the knot with each one straining against the rope to retain his or her independence.  Together, we traveled to Italy, rode a flume in Hawaii, flew over a volcano, saw Mayan ruins, saw a glacier calving (breaking off), flew in a glider, owned a restaurant, played golf, drove across the country and back for an indescribable six-week trip, and drove across one more time to settle in North Carolina. During these years, I flew in a hot air balloon alongside the Rockies, went skydiving at age sixty, started writing and publishing books, and lost a husband.   

Now I enter my AF years where the pages are still blank, the chapters waiting to be written. As a very dear friend of mine wrote, “We know as one story ends, another begins.  The pages are numbered; when the story starts we never know who will shine or become a treasured character we will remember for the rest of our lives."

One thing I’ve learned in life is to not look back with regret, but to look forward with anticipation.  

I wish each of you a Happy New Year with all the wonder and anticipation that this year may bring.

Quotation of the Day:  To rejoice in life, to find the world beautiful and delightful to live in....  Edith Hamilton

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