Rejuvenation of The Soul

Since my last blog, I've been a busy bee.  September is my birthday month, the month school starts, the end of the third quarter of the year and the jump start to the fourth quarter.  Frankly, September is the month  the earth starts to regenerate and ready itself for the next season.  This month is the month I regenerated and began my life anew.  Oh I know, I moved in June.  June was my launching point, September 2020 was the month I got started. 

So let me take us back to the beginning, the truth that will explain.  You see I fell in love, yes me!  It was wonderful, exciting and I was head over heels.  We talked, we traveled, we had wonderful experiences.  Needless to say however, I missed the warning signs, red flags and the little ticky things that we women miss when we put the object of our affections on a pedestal.  They become Mr. Wonderful in our minds, I did that and more.  Sadly  however, life changed, the red flags became dramatic and my entire wonderful love affair ground to an abrupt halt and simply disappeared.  Yes poof, disappeared.  Hard to say why and I have stopped asking but I now understand very clearly and it makes me sad for Mr. Wonderful.  I have completely forgiven him and now I'm moving forward on a clearer path and one which makes sense.  I'm not bitter, angry or sad anymore.  Disappointed yes but none of the former. I realized that life has it's ebbs and flows, beginnings and endings, time for every purpose under heaven.  Mr. Wonderful for those who may be asking is simply a wonderful human being, a true sweet soul and the most intelligent man I have ever known.  I wish him nothing but happiness, peace, health and hopefully a life he's happy with.  I pray daily for him and hope he can feel my prayers.  But now it's time I move forward.  Call me sometime, I'd like to chat, no strings attached.

So, what's next for Terry one may ask?  Oh my gosh, this is where my regeneration starts, my new life started and new opportunities begin.  So let's reflect on September or better start back when I arrived in Idaho with my dear friend Toni (who came along for the ride) and my sweet Bonnie girl.  

First off, my new home is perfect.  My house is unpacked, pictures hung, garden started and the yard has been been improved.  Idaho is hot in the summer, cold in the winter and spring and fall are gorgeous.  My roses are still flourishing and there is a place in my garden for more bushes to be planted next spring.  My new hole digger is a darling young man who also mows my lawn and who gives me good advise on Idaho horticulture.  What a blessing he is!

I found an nice church and my new pastor is astute, gracious and very caring.  I joined a Bible study and plan to attend the Sunday services regularly.  Lucky me, I didn't have to church shop long.  I say thank you to Kevin for accepting me into the "fold."  I appreciate the friendship we've started and ear you're willing to lend me if needed.

I found a new gym (as noted in other blogs and pictures on Instagram).  My new trainer has me back in Beast Mode and puts me through the paces.  Now I just need to lose that Covid Ten pounds so the skinny jeans fit again.  So thank you Sarah for your friendship and kindness.  You are a blessing.

Idaho has also blessed me with new friends, reestablished some old friendships and given me a social life.  There are a few of us here from San Marino High School and we get together regularly.  So thank you for your friendship Ginny and Jeff and we look forward to welcoming Wendy into our group.  Fun times, great food and conversation is our goal.

My dear friend Suzanne Ross invited me to Sedona last weekend.  I went still weepy and sad from the love that went wrong and returned home, refreshed, rejuvenated and ready to take on the world.  Lucky me or shall I say blessed me, I met up with another powerful woman who has invited me into her world.  I will start working with her to establish my "mission" and I can't wait to get started.  My mission from the Universe, that I chose to accept, will be to help other women of any age group reestablish their lives after a breakup or death of a spouse.  My pen will be my sword as these last seven years have been a growth experience that I believe I can share with others.

Lastly, September gave me the opportunity to realize how truly blessed I am, how loved I am by my family and many friends.  These are true souls who let me cry when the love went wrong, tell my story over and over again and never once judged me in any way.  I say thank you to my daughter Kristina (who put up with my sobbing tears) Ginny, Toni, Joyce, Jane, Robin and my cousin Vickie.  I'm good now, healing still but on the road to the new beginning I know God has in store for me.

Today's Daily Word sums up this week's blog:

Purpose - I search my feelings and discover my purpose.

Proverbs 20:5 explains, "Counsel of the heart of a man is like deep waters.  But a wise man will draw it out"

Where Did Time Go?

The title Senior Citizen has finally caught up to yours truly.  It's amazing actually as I think about it and begin to embrace the milestone of turning 65.  My birthday isn't until next week but I officially became a senior on September 1 when Medicare kicked in.  How can this be, how could time have flown so quickly?  It seems like only yesterday we were starting kindergarten, graduating for high school, getting married and having babies.  It seems like just the other day, I was in London celebrating 64.  Where did the time go? 

As I look over the years, I wonder how I got to this point in my life.  I believe we all ponder this question, in one way or another.  I remember the first day of school, excited to see who my teacher would be, who would be my classmates, which boy I'd have a crush on that year.  Every day during my working years would be the same but different.  I had a great career but it's over now as I've been retired for 6 blessed years.  Where did the time go?

As a new mom, I used to look with wonder into my new baby's eyes.  I could clearly see the beauty in her soul and marvel that this is my child, the one who's bones I knitted in my body.  I remember once my mother saying, "enjoy her now because the next thing you know, she'll be graduating from high school."  Yup, time flew and she graduated from high school, college and now she's a lovely young woman who I still look at with awe and wonder.  Where did the time go?

Over the years, with the passing of my loved ones, I think back to the times we were all together.  Those holiday times where we'd be gathered as a family, cousins running the house, my grandmother making the Christmas gravy, Easter egg hunts and birthday parties.  I can still hear Dad and Uncle Jack discussing politics and laughing at some joke us kids probably didn't need to hear.  Only yesterday we were sitting at the breakfast nook Dad built, blowing out candles on the birthday cake and opening our presents.  Where did the time go?

As I look back, I see a blessed life, with wonderful parents and grandparents who loved me.  I see with clear eyes, a childhood that was generally happy, an adulthood that has had it's shares of ups and downs but blessed all the same.  It's been a wonderful life but still, where did the time go?

Over this last year, I became more aware than ever before of the passing of time.  I believe, my 64th year was one of growing and learning.  I listened to several lectures, all trying to explain ways of the Universe.  With this new knowledge and understanding, I believe I made myself right with God and my eyes have been opened.  Thinking back at the places I visited, people I met and friendships secured, I'm left in awe and wonder.  Still, that nagging question comes up again, where did the time go?

So as I enter my 65th year, I am back to being a child of wonder.  I have realized how much more I have to learn, how many more places to visit, people to meet and friends to make.  I haven't given up on love as giving up means defeat and I'm not defeated.  Life is what one makes it and moving forward, I'm making my life the best ever.

So, I say thank you to God, my parents and grandparents.  I say thank you to Kristina and John for being there and to the many unnamed people who have blessed me over the years.  I'll not be writing my blog for the next two weeks as I'm going to travel, celebrate life and my new beginning.  So with this being said, Happy Birthday to me!  

Ecclesiastes 3: 1-8: "There is a time for every purpose under heaven: a time to be born, and a time to die, a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted, a time to kill and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; a time to seek, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away; a time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; a time to love, and a time to hate; a time for war, and a time for peace."