Making Sense Of It All

  February 16, 2025  Wellington (NZ) Botanic Gardens  My thoughts are with Mali who shared the passing of her dear husband this week. I don't know what it is to lose a beloved spouse. The sea of emotions must be truly overwhelming. Loss is personal and each of us finds a way to navigate the grief in our own way. Our time here on this planet is short and our one lasting legacy is the people we touch and the memories we share. If I've learned anything over my 63 years it is that grieving is easier when we feel supported and seen. I see you Mali. I'm grateful that we had some time together in person -- the four of us -- to share food, wine and stories. Though it was only a weekend in each other's presence, the experience remains large in my life. There are few people I can say I've felt instantly at home with; you and D are two of those people. It was truly wonderful to be immediately and fully at ease with each other and bonded based on our collective experiences as i...

2016: Strolling with my sister and DH in the Midwest neighborhood where I grew up. The past several months I've been slowly emptying stuff out of closets, drawers, garage shelves, and cupboards. We've logged 10 years in our current place, but never fully unpacked boxes stacked neatly out of the way from 30 years of togetherness.  It's surreal to mark three decades since I chucked just about everything I had from my old life and started over at 32. I flew cross-country with two suitcases. Meeting me on the other end a week later was a small truck holding my mattress and a few smaller pieces of furniture and pots and pans that I paid to move.  Today, the act of pruning belongings and surrendering mementos and stuff is both liberating and emotionally taxing.  What to Keep and What to Let Go Diving into boxes of things that once seemed impossible to toss (all those old memories!), today feels less impossible but still requires time to sort and filter. Contained within: file f...