another year flies by

reflections of the year, transitions, looking forward

Hey dear friends and family! I’m back and sorry I haven’t written in a while.

In lieu of a holiday card, I’m sending my thoughts and wishes here. To my dear friends wherever you are, I wish you a happy holiday season, beautiful celebrations, time with your loved ones, hope in the coming of longer days and a new year filled with joy. I am well aware of how much value you add to my life and am grateful for each of you.

This past year held a lot of promise and overall it has delivered. I hope for you as well.

It has been a year like no other. I feel so very lucky to have my health, enough resources to embrace my inner-vagabond and the learnings of my 65 years on this planet, which altogether give me a freedom I’ve never before experienced.

The year started in Chicago with a cold spell that actually got me to quit walking for a bit. A stretch of single-digit temps can do that to a person.

This spring, I entered into a crazy period of chronic hives that slowed me down for a couple months but after finding great docs providing treatment and a bajillion tests, it turns out I’m actually in good health. Oh except for those pesky hives. I’m about as normal as I can be, and I’ve resumed my activities with gusto.

Prior to stepping away from work, I had my last YJC gala in April, celebrating with the founder, Ann Jennett, Sacella Smith a past ED, and welcoming in the amazing Lucretzia Jamieson the new Executive Director for YJC.

I’m very grateful to the YJC board of directors for eight years of working together, learning from each other, and supporting and pushing each other to make the work and the organization stronger. Lucretzia (Cree) and I had an overlap of a month and I’m grateful for her leadership as well as her friendship. This doesn’t happen to everyone, but on the day I left, I happily put it all behind me, knowing it’s in good hands.

And then I got started on my next chapter.

I’ve told many of you, summer in Chicago is the best! Watching fireflies from the screened in porch on those hot nights, outdoor concerts galore, fly-fishing lessons, hikes, walking Lake Michigan, and oh, so much more! Once I retired, I assumed the behavior of a teenager with most evenings scheduled and lots of sleeping in. In preparation for my road trip I totally over scheduled myself but I wouldn’t change a thing. I had an absolute blast!

I left Evanston on Sept 8, and headed west, then north, then south and east then west again. Long story, but it totally worth it to spend special time with my father-in-law, Al, and second cousin Gretchen.

The trip out west was faster than I had originally planned because of doc’s appts and monthly injections to reset the body, and it’s all working well so I’m not messing with it.

After arriving in Seattle at the end of September I’ve been having a wonderful time enjoying family, dinners with friends, walks, movies, concerts and all sorts of other activities. I’ll be here just over three months and then am heading south on January 4, 2023, yay! Stay tuned, the travel pics will resume.

While I’m truly enjoying my time here, the road calls to me.  But being here for an extended period (especially while not having an alarm go off each morning) I also see the adventure and exploration that can happen when not traveling. I get a few glimpses of routine, but mostly it’s been filled with unexpected things to do and spending time with people, many I haven’t seen in years. More about that in a moment.

I love to take pics especially while out walking, and sometimes take my Nikon.  I know the new iPhones have multiple lenses, but I’m still nursing along my X series so it will be a while for me on that upgrade. Here are a few from a very amateur photographer. I loved catching this bird cleaning himself.

Or the foliage and holiday lights at the Pt. Defiance Zoo.

Or these darling boys walking together.

These next ones are phone pics, as you can tell. Celebrating my sis’ birthday at the Pike Place Market, we had a lovely day. And when you visit, don’t miss the gum wall. it’s worth seeing but don’t touch. It really is a gum wall.

life’s transitions

At the risk of annoying all you working folks I want to share a thought about the gift of time experienced in retirement. Life is much more relaxing. But a special gift is the ability to be present.  To observe what’s happening and be more aware of others’ needs and available to self and others.

In that vein, I had an interesting observation. I realized the amount of transition we all live through, almost constantly. I’ve been through my share and the big ones are easy to see, the smaller ones, not so much. I see many of you going through them. 

Our expectations of what our future will bring, sometimes don't mesh with the constant transitions of life. Small ones may not challenge us, but the larger ones can shake us to the core. Most days invite transition, from changing joints (body joints, that is) to who is still at our table. And it becomes more intense as we age while we may also become more resistant to them. 

One of my colleagues in Evanston said once in relation to staffing issues, “always expect something to happen. Even if it is going really well, know that something will be right around the corner.”

It was a great lesson then. And something I’ve thought about in the context of transition. I want to embrace that concept, not in a fearful way, rather, knowing that I will be facing change for the rest of my time here. And I need to have the confidence of knowing I will get through. 

And I get through because of you, the people who support me, push me and guide me.

I’m also learning it’s okay to not know what’s next. I am recreating a future that was wiped away, but I don’t really know yet what direction I will take. And I’m learning to be okay with that. Maybe parts of our chapter should be left unwritten, to evolve and shift in ways that can’t be expected.

After a lifetime of planning what’s next, it’s a gift to step back from that.

I want to acknowledge some of my strong friends and family who are going through difficult transitions. Including a dear friend facing her husband’s terminal cancer, navigating this horrible experience with staggeringly limited healthcare resources. And another whose decades long relationship has come to an end, seeing her anticipated future erased. I watch as each of them find strength in unexpected ways, as they keep putting one foot in front of the other. I’m glad I have been here for them at this time. 

Other transitions are mostly good, such as a dear friend who moved out of her home of 55 years. It was difficult in some ways, particularly narrowing down what is kept, but also wonderful to revisit the treasures of a lifetime. And she now gets the pleasure of moving into a community that provides her with a beautiful lifestyle and a reduction in what she has to take care of on a daily basis. Or my daughter Claire, who just moved to her next home, her fourth since graduating from college 2 1/2 years ago.  And this may also be temporary as she completes her masters in three months and settles into her professional teaching career, a transition to look forward to. 

And then there’s my mom who, still healthy at 90, is planning to move from her condo to a senior living community where she can have access to resources, social time and someone to help with the housework. Here she is this past summer with her great grandkids.

Or Luther, (we call him Loofie) who recently celebrated his second birthday which immediately resulted in him entering the “two’s” including stomping feet and a strong ability to express his dissatisfaction, while remaining an absolutely adorable child. 

transitions will always be with us

Somehow in the life I’ve lived, I may have come to like change a little too much. So take all this in stride as you read this. Change can be difficult even when the outcome is something we want. When I look at the transitions of my life, it has been the people supporting me that helped me through each one.

As we look to the new year I wish you all the support you deserve through life’s changes and transitions that result in greater strength, and stronger bonds, even when they are laced with pain.

Thanks to all of you for the support you’ve given me over the years. And here’s hoping you always have those people in your corner championing you on.

Happy transition pics (first is the Thelmaturge Club then moving with Claire)

and here’s to the people in my corner

My family, and our continued ability to learn and grow and accept each other and ourselves, safely learning what others need and how we can show up better.

My special Evanston, Chicago and Wisconsin friends who I will be returning to in March.

My Seattle area family and friends, from those I’ve known forever to those who house and feed me while I’m here, those who thankfully didn't slip away because they kept checking in, and those I reconnected with accidentally and realized we were always each other’s people.

My friends and family (sometimes both such as CraiganTammy) I’ve already seen on this trip and those I look forward to seeing in the coming months.

My new friends I’ve made on this trip.

You all know who you are and….

thank you for being my people

Happy Hanukkah, Merry Christmas, Happy Kwanzaa, Best Winter Solstice, Merry Festivus, whatever holidays you do or don’t celebrate, my wish is for you to be safe, fulfilled and looking toward a joyous future.

And these pics are just for fun! decorations, figgy pudding, people I love.

More pics at https://www.instagram.com/ktdtravelingtapestry/

#travelingtapestry