Packing up the camper…

 April 26,2024  

Look closely. I have seen a monarch butterfly every day. 

Three days til seventy three. I look at my face in the mirror and I wonder how I got here. My skin is lined. I look older than my mother ever did. I am a widow. Alone. I need to move forward. Make decisions about my house. Should I paint or side. Garage doors. Isabella. The camper. What do I want to do for me? 

10.  What are your top five sayings that encapsulate the accrued wisdom of your life experience?

1. What is it you plan to do with your wild and precious life? —Mary Oliver

2. If there ever comes a day when we can’t be together, keep me in your heart. I’ll stay there forever. —a.a.milne

3. Do not go gentle into that good night, Old age should burn and rave at close of day. Rage, rage against the dying of the light.—Dylan Thomas

4. A book is a dream you hold in your hands.—Neil Gaimen

5. The only things that matter are the little moments that make up a life. —Neil Gaimen

 

On Your Feet…

 April 25, 2024

Cammy and I had dinner at Citrus tonight. U6 Prawns with Lemon Angel Hair Pasta. Delicious. Sat outside with a view of the ocean. Warm and breezy. Then we saw the musical Get on Your Feet. Gloria and Emilio Estefan. Lovely night.

Four days til seventy three. Oh, my. 

Seventy three is breathing down my neck…

 April 24,2024

Five days til seventy three. Oh, my. Packing to head back to Michigan. A lunch, a musical and Junior Prom still on my list of things to do. Bella survived boarding at a kennel. They said she was a real sweetheart. The people were lovely. Huge talking bird. I will miss being here in this gorgeous weather with my girls. Floating in the pool. Coffee outside. I love my teens. 

3b. What is the last time  you put something off that you really would like to do yourself? 

Always. I do so much for other people I put off anything I want to do for me. Sometimes I think I use this as an excuse not to chance failure. Remember, I just spent two years as my husband’s sole caregiver. There are no resources to give a caregiver support. American Cancer society, Pan Can, Hospice, etc have pamphlets, online info but no actual help with care. My goal once I get home is to do something I want to do just for me. Take a class. Paint a canvas. Listen to me. 

My daughters and families have shown me loving hospitality. I have been with them for 5 months. I am so grateful. I have turned a corner in this grieving process. I feel ready to move forward. 

                                Pictures of my winter!  

Back in Florida…

 April 22,2024

Flew back to Florida today. Watched 2009 Sherlock Holmes movie on the plane. It made my trip go by in a minute. Seven days til seventy-three.

 

I will pick up Bella tomorrow. I miss her so much. She looked so sad when I left her at the kennel. I hope she is ok. 

I need to pick a new book for my Pop Sugar challenge. I finished The Many Lives of Mama Love. Very good. I want my next read to be just as good.

3. What makes you happy? 

My family is my happiness. Listening to my teen grand kids talk about school and music and their dreams makes me happy. Reading a really good book. Working on a jigsaw puzzle. Simple things, I guess. 

From the GAW Barbie convention…

 #GAWConvention #HiBarbie #ImaBarbieGirl #Grant-a-WishFund

Busy 4 days of Barbie. Quite an experience. OOAK dolls by designers from France, Italy, Mattel and US. Raised over $60,000 with doll auction for Gilda’s Club, Camp Casey, and Team Tessa.

I met so many great people. Fun at the ball, kareoke and social events. I won the table doll! 

Hi, Barbie! Hi, Barbie…

 April 17, 2024 

I made it. Two very busy airports. A rainstorm in Detroit. Landed through turbulence. I’m at the convention with my sister. It is quite amazing. Pictures tomorrow. 

1. What is your biggest regret and how can your loved ones avoid the same. I have a few regrets. My biggest is not traveling more when I was younger. I want to travel Europe but I have put it off for so long I might not have the energy to do it properly. My advice to my loved ones. DO IT NOW! Don’t put anything off that you really want to do. 

                               OOAK Silkstone Barbie

On my way to say, “Hi,Barbie”

 April 16, 2024

Heading to a Barbie Convention with my sister. Should be fun I am looking forward to it. I have always loved vintage Barbie’s. Is it wrong that the toys I played with as a kid are all vintage? 

Thirteen and counting!

               This was a long time ago. 

7. What is love?  

This is an easy question for me. I think I can answer it with grace. Love is being present for the person you care for. Love is doing things that make life a little easier or more fun for the one you love. It is sharing experiences. It is being close. Love is caring for him in his illness never letting him feel like a burden. (He worried that caring for him during cancer treatment was too hard). Love is children and grandchildren. Babies. Holidays. Trips. Sitting together by a fire, at camp,  on the old front porch.