Mortality - #91

I thought my mom would live forever.  Of course in reality, I know that’s not possible. And yes, those we love and treasure always continue to live on in our hearts and memories; I just thought my mom would be around a lot longer. At just a hair shy of 99, she had an incredible life and eventually an enviable peaceful death.

One way I have come to describe my mom is “Renaissance Woman”.  She was gifted in so many ways and could do almost anything. She was an extremely intelligent, determined person and such a great example to emulate. Truth be told, I was not the easiest of kids and we clashed a lot over the years. The one quality I wish I had inherited from mom was her focus to accomplish whatever she set her mind to. I always felt I lacked that patience gene; but I think I’m getting better as I get older. 

My mother’s death has given me a lot more thought about my own mortality. In the “natural” order of life, this now means I have moved up a notch, closer to the end of my life; next in line. I have been feeling more vulnerable these days. If I am lucky enough to follow in her footsteps and have good, healthy years ahead of me, I plan to use them to the best of my ability. I am even more conscious of that now.

The last number of years as my mom aged, she gradually faded away. Though her intelligence and abilities remained intact, her short term memory became nonexistent. I often described her as “Ten-Second Tom”- a character from the movie “50 First Dates”. I had been missing her for a long time. These last number of years, to quote my sister Anne, became our “long goodbye”.

last photo  

I remember when my first husband, Robert(Bob) died very suddenly.  I had described my feelings as if I was in the middle of reading a really good book and having it slammed shut. My mom just ran out of pages…her story now complete.  But like any really good story- it lingers on and remains a part of you.  I still feel my mom’s presence; she is definitely still with me. She always will be.  

My dad has been waiting a long time to be with her again.  I’m glad they are together.

Life and Death - #90

Life is wonderful when you feel good! I wake up excited to start a new day, consult my calendar and put the coffee on. 

On my days off, I love to lounge around in the morning, sipping the same cup of black coffee until it gets cold, reading articles, playing word games and doing searches on my phone. Such a luxury! 

On days when we are focused on home projects, Charlie and I do our own thing but also often work together at the same time.  Today I held the ladder and helped him move an antenna for his shed.  He cleaned off the top of the camper bump out and I pulled it in and prepared the inside of the trailer for travel for when we take it in for maintenance in another week.  He starts the power washer for me but I do the actual washing… so on and so forth….

May is a busy month for us and I’m really pushing myself. I’m participating in a town 5K a week from today (I’ll be walking) and a new Zumba class - first time for me at the COA.  I’m leading another class at the senior center on Diamond Art again later this month, as well as joining in on painting and jewelry making classes at the library. Brooke and her friend Allison - for the last 3 years - have taken the Mom’s ( Myra and Me) for Mother’s Day Tea. This is such a special get-together I have come to look forward to each May!

This year, I also focused on our finances. I had our insurance needs reviewed by a new and local agent and saved quite a bit of money for same coverage. I also had a new financial agent review my investments to see if we could do better.  He has really helped me a lot!

We have medical visits in the upcoming weeks (and months) as we prepare for being away over the winter. There is always a lot to do. 

I also had something unusual happen this past month and wondered if this has happened to others. From time to time, I will remember someone from my past - from school or my old neighborhood and will search them out on Facebook. Sometimes I find them, most often not. I might drop them a note but usually I don’t. A couple of weeks ago I had a nagging urge to seek out a person I worked with off and on for many years as his bookkeeper. I actually looked on Facebook for his wife, because I didn’t think he would have a page. I couldn’t locate her or their children who are much older now and whose names I happen to remember. Then I decided to try google. And shockingly, his obituary popped up. He had died just a couple of weeks prior to me seeking out the family. I was so saddened by this. Al and I had met when I had just moved to Plymouth; I was 24 and he was 35. It had been a good working relationship and I always liked him. He was a big tall guy; looked like a lumberjack. And I always liked his wife; she is such a sweet, friendly person. I wrote the family a note on the funeral home’s page but then a couple of days later, decided I would call Maryanne and reach out to her. I did not connect with her on my original call but happy to say, we have plans to meet for lunch in a couple of weeks. One of the things Maryanne said to me was “She kept looking for a sign from Al, to know he’s okay”. The day after we spoke I texted her “ Isn’t it strange that something made me look up your family and reach out. I wonder where that thought came from”. 

Spring, Yay! - #89

Spring is such a happy time of year! Nothing makes me feel better than seeing beautiful colors come to life, feeling the warmth of the sun, and spending my days outside! 

During the winter months, I went through a period of time feeling down- that dark winter cloud was hanging over me; couldn’t seem to shake it. Tried to get out as much as possible but it only helped temporarily. Our last trip really helped change my focus and I’ve been finally feeling like my normal self again!

In February- we celebrated my big 69th birthday and our 26th anniversary; we spent a couple of days in Springfield, MA with the MGM Grand as our destination.  We had a lot of fun at that casino and discovered a couple of new machines we really liked to play and had good luck with.  Springfield is a city that could really use some revitalization; it looks so tired.  Though we enjoyed ourselves, there are other places I’d rather go but I’m glad we experienced it! 

The rest of February and into March, I really started to focus on preparing for our cruise to Bermuda on March 29-April 5th. I pulled out the suitcases, started putting aside clothes and items we wanted to bring.  

In between, I went on several hosted nature and birding walks with the NRT in the next town, continued with my scrabble, bingo, painting, and exercise classes, met friends for lunch and hung out with the littles. 

And then before we knew it… the cruise!! We sailed conveniently out of Boston on the Norwegian Gem. It is one of  NCL’s smaller, older ships - which is our preference. This was also the first cruise out of Boston for the 2024 season, which meant our ship would arrive to port empty and ready for us sooner than if previous cruisers had to disembark. We had access to our stateroom immediately! On this trip, we opted for an ocean view cabin on the 5th deck, midship. It was a great location. I can’t emphasize enough how enlightening it is to watch YouTube videos from content providers. Great information about the ship’s layout, activities, food, cabin tours, excursions, etc…. I find it very helpful! 

The sailing itself was very rough and although we did not experience any adverse effects, we were glad when we finally docked in Bermuda! We had left in the rainy 40’s from Boston and arrived to high 60’s/70 and sunshine!

 It was great to be able to sit out on deck and relax. 

We loved Bermuda and thought it was gorgeous! 

We toured all that Dock Yard had to offer and were planning to spend a full day visiting other parts of the island… but as they say “ the best laid plans…”.  Due to an impending storm, we had to cut our stay in Bermuda a day short and left Tuesday ( instead of Wednesday). We spent an extra day sailing, going around the weather. Our captain did a great job! 

Honestly though, we loved being on the ship.  I took a paint class, we went to the gym, movies, shows and had wonderful meals! We also loved the casino and I had great luck! At any rate, we’d love to do this cruise again, just leaving a month later.

We’ve been home a few weeks now with renewed enthusiasm.  Charlie has started going back to archery and is really enjoying! It had been a long time. 

I have started making plans for our next cruise in July - the big one!  

We have an appointment to take our trailer in for maintenance and repairs next month in preparation for our fall travels.  I spent a few days cleaning the inside and it looks pretty good, though I’m thinking about doing some simple updating projects inside but I’ll leave that for our time in Mississippi.

In a couple of weeks, we are attending the Brimfield Antiques Flea Market! It’s been on our list ever since we saw it on the show Flea Market Flip! It will be an overnight getaway and should be fun!

The last couple of weeks, I’ve been slowly doing yard work and power washing. The house is looking good! 

Looking forward to an exciting spring and summer! We’re  just getting started!