Friday, September 22, 2023
Drat! The first thing I noticed when I opened this document just now is that everything I wrote while I was in Europe and on my way home did not keep! Too bad, because I am sure I was very eloquent! So it seems that a month has passed since I have written anything. I should have kept a paper journal. But I did not, so there you go.
We did have a very good time. We walked the streets of Barcelona and saw sights we were meant to see. We ate well and drank better. Vicki was a great traveling companion and as usual, Elaine and Jiff were fantastic hosts. In France we visited beaches and castles, lakes and waterfalls, Roman aqueducts and wineries. We met new friends and shared old stories while creating new ones.
All and all it was a very fulfilling excursion. I felt Jimmy with me in so many of the places we visited and people we met. And for once I didn’t feel sorry for myself. Over the years I have witnessed life and death going on around me. I have never been exempt from difficult times, but I am just one among the entire population and I know that when we say ‘life’ we mean everything that comes with it. And everything is not all roses for anybody.
Loss, illness and heartache live right alongside love, happiness and abundance. Woven together they create some sort of balance. I am learning that if we pay good attention they teach us how to love more freely, to respect each day and each friend and each opportunity, and be aware and grateful for all the good things we are given, either by luck or design.
I am quite aware of the abundances of my life. And I am grateful for each one; my wonderful friends, this house in this town, my children, my families by blood and by marriage and how fortunate I was to have had the love of a very good man. I couldn’t be more blessed.
I wish you comfort as you live your life with all the blessings and heartaches you acquire.
May you find peace in both.
