North Carolina Home

As soon as I squared away our new home in Tampa and felt comfortable with what we had done to prepare it to be our home, I headed north to NC. That was on September 9, which is my brother, Bob’s, birthday. He would have been 64 years old. That day has become a contemplative one for me so being on the road seemed like a good place to be.
When the mountains come into view I’m always blown away by the beauty. There’s something so basic in me that it reaches. Maybe it is just the need for beauty and change.
The first morning, yesterday when I awoke it was 56 degrees. Even though I knew that I still dressed in my summer clothes and didn’t dream of taking a jacket with me. I must be a creature of habit because all the signs given to me to hint at wearing different clothing were ignored. After all, this is still summer time.
I was so cold all morning and just laughed at the absurdity of it all, the absurdity of me loving this cold blast in the early morning. People were wearing long sleeves and sweaters but that still seemed out of the question to this Floridian.
By mid afternoon (off the mountain) the temps reached 80 degrees and I felt just fine in my clothes. I would have to remember the layering look that I adopt each time I come here this time of year.
I am home. This is the same thing I say when I leave NC in the winter and head for Florida and see those sparkling beaches and feel the warmth of the sunshine. Life is good.

HCC Reunion

I just returned home from the HCC Reunion in Asheville. What an incredible week it was.

HCC is Half Century Club that Mary started online about 14 years ago when we were that age or not far from it. We have met each year in a different state and have always had such a great time. We also meet in small regional groups throughout the year. HCC has been such a gift to me and everyone who has been involved I am sure. It’s a wonder to have this contact with women my age throughout the USA. Women who have been there/done that in just about any situation. We have concentrated on our likenesses and rejoiced in our differences these many years. I can’t begin to tell you how much I’ve learned from these women and how much they have added to my life. I get teary eyed just thinking about them and all we have been through in the last 14 years. We’ve lost several members to death and we’ve been there for each other as some have faced diagnosis and illnesses. Most of all we are all adventurers who intend to make the best of each day. The main ingredient is not the tears but rather all the laughter and support, caring and sharing, love and the ability to put ourselves in another’s shoes. This group of women is so important to my life still. I always have a woman to talk to about anything from the saddest to the tremendous happenings in my life. Somebody stop me. I can’t say enough about these wonderful women.

Peggy and Paula came to the mountain house before the gathering. We had five days of wonderful. I showed them around my area here and we did a lot of enjoying of the mountain house. We sat on the deck watching the scenery change as the sun danced across the mountains. We visited a few local small towns and ate at some good country food places. What a joy to have them here and make memories in this place that I love so much.

Therese, Sherrie, and Terri came to the house on Wednesday and we started out our day at Joey’s Pancake House. Then we spent the day in Maggie Valley and Waynesville. What a great day of shopping, walking, talking, and wrecking. Well, one t-ninesy fender bender when I went to pull out of a parking spot. The women were all astounded about how nice everyone was and how slow the police were to get there and get us back on our way. There wasn’t a scratch on my car but there was a small dent in the van we hit.

We went to Asheville to the hotel that Terri had picked out for us in downtown Asheville. She did a great job in getting a good location at a great price. We stayed at Four Points by Sheraton.

Jessie came in later that night and Sharon drove in on Thursday. Sharon was my roommate for this trip and we were a good duo because we were both familiar with Asheville.

It was great seeing these seven women. We were really sorry that more couldn’t come but there were some benefits to a small group. We didn’t have to make reservations to be able to go out to eat for instance but we missed all that weren’t there. Comparing it to the 44 women who were in Seattle, for instance, gave us a feeling of closeness to each other. In Seattle it was hard to spend time with everyone.

We went to the Biltmore Estate one day and our “big” dinner this year ended up to be lunch buffet at the Grove Park Inn which Sherrie planned. We were all blown away by the wonderful food choices and atmosphere for $20 each. Another neat eating place that Sherrie suggested was the Fiddlin Pig. Delicious BBQ and live music and dancing by a square dance/stomping team and also the guests at the restaurant. I look forward to taking Bill to the Fiddlin Pig when he’s back here in a week.

Terri planned a Lazoom Comedy Tour that was funny and very informative. We really enjoyed it and a couple of us won prizes. The tour went to a lot of places that I want to return to including the River Drive arts district where all the studios are open.

We had so many fun times and laughs and made lots of memories of this group gathering. I love that we were in the area that I love so much and where I get so much inspiration.

Everyone put in an effort to make this a wonderful gathering for us all and it was an amazing time.

I picked Lexi up this morning at the kennel and came on home. I sure miss everyone. Peggy and Paula left me several containers of the delicious chicken soup they made the last night at the house here and I thawed a bowl for tonight. Yum.

I went into Peggy’s room when I got back and there was a card with her red hat photo on it. Cracked me up. This woman makes me laugh even when she’s not here. LOL

Graduation

What an incredible evening. I received an invitation to A’s graduation after she contacted me via internet. She said she had been searching for me. I was A and her sister’s guardian ad litem for five years and that was over ten years ago.

I am so often reminded what little it takes to make an impression on a child we come in contact with. Loving A and her sister were a given. They were so precious and we fought long and hard to get them where they needed to be in life. They were in about five foster homes in the five years I was their guardian. It seems that everything that could happen to these precious girls did and we just had to stick with the legal system until we could be heard.

It finally happened when A was seven. She was two years old when they became a ward of the state and I was appointed their guardian.


A and her sister are teenagers now and have grown into beautiful, self-assured young women. Their adoptive parents are beyond my dreams. I knew the love and total devotion they received in their home and I knew I’d never have to worry about them again.

I could see those same little faces in the grown up young women that I saw some 15 years ago. That was so amazing. A will be going to college in the fall. She has a 4 point something GPA.

One never really knows what will imprint on a child's memory. A asked us to promise to have them over to make a gingerbread house for Christmas. They remember that from all those years ago. They told Bill how they remembered the card games he taught them and told him about the tricks to prove they remembered.

What a blessing these girls were in our lives and my heart runs over with the thought of having contact with them now. It was wonderful seeing their adoptive mom and dad after all these years, too. What a great job they have done. Ashley's dad made a toast to A and there wasn't a dry eye in the crowd. I'm still trying to settle down from this emotional day.

Imagining Heaven

Friday night, May 14, the publicity party and book signing for the anthology Imagining Heaven took place at the Palmer Building in Charlotte, NC. All the contributors to this book were invited to the party and we were advised that we could bring a guest. Bill and I left to drive to Charlotte on Thursday and planned to have a nice travel and time together in Charlotte before the party on Friday night.
We were enamored once again with the looks and feel of the town of Charlotte. We had a hotel room close to shopping and restaurants and the Palmer Building in South Charlotte. The weather was beautiful and our whole time there was just the best. We love Dean and Deluca and spent mornings there for coffee and breakfast. Wish we had one here.
The party on Friday night was dream like. The books were delivered while we were there and it was our first look at them. The woman who had the whole concept for this project, Linda Matney, is doing such a wonderful job of supporting hospice. All the proceeds of the book go to hospice. That is why they chose not to sell the book on Amazon or anywhere besides the website they have set up at imaginingheaven.com. That way they can say that 100% of the proceeds go to hospice.
The cover is a serene scene painted by artist, David Thompson. They had the original watercolor on display at the center. The book was edited by Maureen Ryan Griffin. I took one of Maureen’s classes at John C Campbell and it was she that suggested that I send the story I wrote in that class to Imagining Heaven. She is a wonderful instructor and I learned so much in her class, Thinking Like DiVinci. I was so delighted when my prose piece, Fly Away Home, was accepted and now I see that there will be a part two to the book so I’ll probably submit something to that as well. Information about that is on the website or will be. I haven’t actually seen it but there is information in the back of the book.
Back to the party: There was entertainment by three women who played wonderful background music. I can’t even remember what instruments they played but it was beautifully done. There was an open bar with the best bar tender and the food was catered by (love this name!) La Te Da. The waiters walked around making sure everyone had one more delicious bite of something and it was all really good. They had one little appetizer that was really different. They had tiny little ice cream cones filled with cheese or chicken salad and different little treats. It was funny seeing everyone eating these little cones and very convenient to be able to carry it around with us while we walked around meeting new people. We met so many interesting people from hospice and all the people that were involved with getting this book off the ground. I was impressed and glad to be a part of it all.

Mother's Day

I had an incredible mother’s day weekend. Jeni took me to dinner at Cheesecake Factory, one of our favorite places, on Saturday. We had a wonderful time and she also gave me a beautiful card and some Daisy perfume. (She’s a Daisy to me)I received a beautiful card from Angie and she called me on Sunday. I was also surprised by a wonderful handmade card from my granddaughter, Alyssa. I feel very blessed and loved. Both my girls are talented in their writing and ability to make me feel so special.

On Sunday Bill took me out for breakfast and then to an arts and crafts show in Lakeland. The sun was shining bright but there was a breeze off Lake Morgan where the show was. Summer was showing it’s colors; green, blues, and cloud white. The swans on the lakeside looked so regal and the ducks were busy doing what they do, providing a background for the show as they glided by on the lake.

Bill and I walked and talked and looked at the art work in the booths as well as the homes along the lake. One home had a rose garden with yellow roses proliferating close to the sidewalks and thee smell was intoxicating. I try hard to grow one yellow rose but these people grow them by the yards full.

We walked the whole art show and it felt good being out and about with people on a regular Sunday. I was half way through the walk when Bill and I both realized I was still walking. No pain in the knees and I had walked the whole art show. We gave each other a high five and talked about what these new knees could mean to me in the future.

I’ve always loved walking as an exercise and now I can see me walking again. I can think of me going shopping and doing all the things I love to do again.

I also had to have a talk with myself and remind me that I’d still be 62 when the knees are completely healed. I’ll still be as tired or limited as a 62 year old would be compared to a 20 or 30 year old. I had begun to envision myself as superwoman before the day was over so I had to make it real. However, the joy I felt that day when I realized I was walking all that time without pain won’t be minimized. I can’t imagine that I will take this for granted for some time.
I'm back!!!

Golden Moment

We have been trying to grow some kind of yellow flower near Brian’s Gazebo ever since we got it. Yellow was Brian’s favorite color. We have planted so many yellow flowers there, especially roses, but not one has made it. Most died but one beautiful yellow rose turned white after the first blooming. Honestly. Other varieties of yellow flowers simply did not make it because they are not indigenous to this area or my non developed green thumb was at work to hinder the growth in some way.
The other gazebo we had made as a memorial for Brian is at Mom’s house in SC and for several years she had the same problem. Mom has a green thumb and can grow just about anything. She also has deer there that hinder the growth around the gazebo there.
Two years ago we purchased a tree. It is supposed to produce yellow blossoms but it is still spindly with hardly a leaf on it. We have had it for two years now and have finally realized that this tree just isn’t going to make it in this area. We think it’s time to give up and just take cut flowers out once in a while.
Yesterday I took Lexi for a walk in the back yard. I have been housebound (almost) since my knee replacement surgery on March 16. This last week was particulary rough and I’ve been storming the heavens for some little light at the end of this tunnel . Mostly I hope the pain will subside, I will obtain full range of motion in both my knees and that some day, some how, I will get my life back. Not the life I had pre-surgery but the new one where I have two good knees. Lately there has been no light and I’ve had a field day of poor me’s and what if’s.
I walked in my slow gait through the back yard and Lexi ran circles around me and I paid careful attention to each step. I looked up at the gazebo in the distance and saw that it was in the shade now and would be a good place to sit a bit. What caught my eye next was the sun shining brilliantly on the spindly tree next to it, Brian’s tree. Illuminated there was one huge yellow blossom at the top of the tree, bathed in that sunshine as though it were on stage. Wow! I thought I would cry but what I did was to stare at that one perfect flower on that imperfect tree. I wanted to implant that vision in my mind’s eye for always.
Lexi and I walked on after stopping there and I saw that our lemon tree was in bloom with fragrant blossoms and it dawned on me that one more yellow tree was growing there and it’s obvious the lemons will make it.
What a beautiful day and I am convinced it’s a day of hope. My glass feels half full again because I saw a flower bloom.

Third Annual Skywriter’s Retreat

I belong to a group of women writer’s called the Skywriters. We have been an online group for ten years and for the last three we have had a retreat/workshop in different places. This time we had the workshop in Palm Springs, CA.
I have never been to Palm Springs so that was a real treat to see what life in the desert was like. The most unbelievable part was that while in the desert we could look up and see the snow covered mountains. The flowers were all gigantic and in Technicolor. The grass and trees, shrubbery and leafs were all green. The frost had not affected this place like it has even in Florida. The desert flowers were so unusual and strangely appealing though some of them didn’t have much color. So much contrast here and so much beauty.Amazing! Thanks to two of our members, Diane and Mary, we received lodging at an incredible resort and had the use of two villas. We spent a whole glorious week at this resort. We cooked two meals in and ate out at some great restaurants. One in particular was memorable for not only the food served there but for the name, “Shame on the Moon”. We also had a delicious champagne brunch that Sunday at a Mexican restaurant.
We had a wonderful time but accomplished so much as well. Each of us had a day that we would make a presentation of some aspect of writing that we thought might help and inspire the others. Each of us also had a theme that we tried to write on that week. We did this last year and had two publications come from it. One from Peggy Goetz, Africa Unfinished, is an amazing book with her photography and poetry. The covers were so eye catching and everything was perfect. We also saw the finished product of Dolly Hawkins book about Costa Rica. This book is also incredible, made more special as a memento from our dear friend who passed away last year. I’m so glad her loved ones and friends were able to get her book completed. It was important that we honored her with a ceremonies and remembrances. That was a help to all of us.
We sure did accomplish a lot. We wrote, learned from each presentation, and got to know each other even better. I am adding these wonderful memories to the many others I have of these eight women. Thanks Diane, Mary, Lynne, Ann, Peggy, Diane B, and Victoria. I am so fortunate to be a part of this wonderful group of women who write.