Tomorrow is the Autumnal Equinox; usually a herald of substantially cooler weather, shorter days, longer nights, beautiful foliage as winter approaches. This year has been one full of changes for me, so the fact that the weather is, in my humble opinion, finally catching up, is a bit of a relief.
Ten months ago I retired from a career in child welfare and haven't looked back, except to breathe a long overdue sigh of relief and to begin to focus more on myself--my interests, my physical health, my future. I feel it took most of those ten months to allow the filthy residue those years left behind to be purged from my spirit. Besides this change, the first of my parents died early in the summer after a lengthy battle with dementia and diabetes; both conditions I aspire to NOT inherit insofar as I am able to stave them off (hence my increased physical health focus). To that end, I have been faithful in attendance at a weekly yoga class at our local Y, plus doing yoga videos, taking walks, or riding a stationery bicycle between my Tuesday night stretch and socialize sessions.
As the new school year began late last month, I also offered myself as a substitute teacher at the private school where my husband is on staff. To date I have enjoyed the experience; it's nice to see children in a far more positive setting than in the midst of familial crises. Not that those youths require less attention; far from it! There are simply different needs for the different children's circumstances.
Change was a theme at yoga last night, which reminded me of the recent loss of my mother and the far less recent loss of her witty, wise guy personality to her illness. It not only robbed her of the sure knowledge of who each member of her family was, but along with the Covid pandemic, it deprived her of the joy of meeting either of her great grandchildren until hours before her passing. At her memorial service the weekend before what would have been her 85th birthday, my sister and I told stories that included snippets of her personality, including her love of music, her passion for ballet (she'd once hoped to dance professionally), and her unwillingness to suffer fools gladly--including an extremely inappropriate turn of phrase she often hurled at our father in frustration and anger. My equally wise guy husband deemed this phrase, "a classic" and we had to edit it for reporting to a mixed audience that included my three year old granddaughter.
My personal goals for the next year are as follow:
1) Lifestyle changes to promote healthier weight (for both me AND hubby)
2) More time spent with our grandchildren
3) Focus on the positives as much as humanly possible
4) Blog at least once per week
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