Beginnings cw

During this time of change and upheaval it seems timely, appropriate, for Vicki and I to decide to start sharing our journeys through creating a blog.

It feels important for me, to share the life experiences which shape me

I learned so much from my grandparents as I grew up, teaching me by sharing their stories. It was then I began to learn the importance of “Story” ~ especially those stories which teach us about who or what we are. Later, living in Alaska, learning from the elders of the original peoples as they shared with each other, I learned so much, by listening as they shared. 

Those elders knew they had purpose

They knew that they contributed to the life of the community, of those around them ~ no matter their increasing limitations. Those elders example taught me to always live with purpose, to find ways to contribute to the world around me.  Three years after Don’s death, as I look for those ways, I also think of Mother Teresa’s words who once said, “We can do no great things ~ only small things with great love.” 

While I was learning the importance of this role, my mother and mother-in-law were becoming increasingly despondent. As their bodies aged and they could no longer do many of the things they felt gave them worth, they saw themselves, their continued life, as useless. I tried to share with them their worth, the importance of the role they had but they couldn’t see it. The society they grew up in ~ today’s society ~ did not and does not recognize that role, that wisdom. It broke my heart! What a tragic waste of their gifts!

One of the lessons I also have learned is we all have gifts

~ we all have a purpose! To share them, no matter what our age, is why we are born. In moving from Alaska, I have become very aware how, as we age, we often live by ourselves, often without the base, the support of a larger community from which to draw strength and wisdom. I know I need community, a place of belonging to help me live richly and well, one where I continue to learn, to grow, to contribute, as I journey toward the adventures which lie ahead. 

Creating Community

Vicki and I have found strength in our sharing frequently with each other, thanks to the wonder of modern technology. We live 200 miles apart, she on an eighty-acre piece of the land she and her husband ranched, I in a small town near Boise. With our phones we have long and frequent conversations. Now, we hope to use this blog as a way to share and, hopefully, create community in this mobile world of ours. 

I hope you will join us!