A long time ago, my second husband and I lived with an elephant. It was called "The Things Which Shall Never Be Discussed". And...we never discussed it. We put a doily on it and called it a table. Eventually, as little elephants are wont to do, it grew and grew till it filled up the room and there was no choice...one of us was going to have to be brave. So, I asked the difficult questions. Which in turn gave me the difficult answers. But, I'd rather have the difficult answers than live with an elephant.
I missed Fitness Friday last week. I have worked out every day this week and with it a holiday today, I had some great friend time and got TWO workouts in! Biking was accomplished at 9:00this morning. The fog hadn't even burned off when we started. Got back and had lunch and decided to contact the gal down the road to see if I could talk her into heading out on the river and kayaking. Turns out I could!
He was just 25. A small-town country boy from West Virginia. Brilliant. Handsome. Full of promise...full of hope. He had attended WVU and wanted to fly jets. He enlisted as an officer in the Air Force and went to Arizona for flight school. Everyone loved him and were so proud of Sonny.
My grandparents, my great-grandparents and an aunt drove to Arizona to see my uncle get his wings. My aunt had worked in San Diego, but the others had never been so far from home. It was the trip of a lifetime for them. Grandma kept scratchy black and white photos in scrapbooks along with postcards, napkins and matchbooks from restaurants, and the program from the ceremony. This was truly the story of a country boy done good.
I've never had just one "home". I leave pieces of my heart wherever those I love reside. Even after living in Colorado for 40 years, "home" was always West Virginia. Yet, "home" is with my children and grandchildren and my brother and friends in Colorado, as well. When I visit my cousins in Tennessee and Pendleton County, I sleep soundly under their roof as I am "home". It's the same at Patti's in California and Jamie's in Cincinnati and Cindy's in Troy and Greg's in New Castle. "Home" is also with my best friend.
When the air is very still and there is no boat traffic, the surface of this river is like glass. It's such a magical place. To quote a friend's daughter on his retired lifestyle, "I could be as Zen as **** if I didn't have to work!" It's true. This has been such an amazing time for me and I am honored to have this opportunity to live and play and write here.
It's the Memorial Day Weekend...traditionally the start of the summer season. Along with that comes social events and picnics in the park and outings of this sort or that. A blossoming romance is not entirely out of the question, even at our delightful age, so I am re-running a post I did a while back that is relevant. I hope you enjoy it and please, feel free to forward it...especially to our young lady graduates who will be heading out into the world soon.
I got up early yesterday, put on the coffee, and started writing. I had to prepare my paperwork for the conference in DC in August. There was a bio to write and a synopsis of my talk. There was the speaker's agreement and selecting the professional head shot. And, twice when I was almost finished my keyboard would just randomly stop working. I had to do the same thing three times before I got it done right. I finally finished at 1:00 and decided it was play time. I called a couple friends and we strapped our kayaks on our respective vehicles and hit the road.
There was a time in this journey when I had no hope whatsoever. I forgot Who loved me...Who had my back, always. I could see nothing past the next tortuous hour. Nothing but tears and pain...anger and frustration. Day after never-freaking-ending day. Anyone who says we do not experience hell on earth has never walked the path of grief.
