Bookish Butch – Page 17 – Life-From this Butch's Perspective

Even… church is closed

Today is Sunday,

usually on Sunday,

I go to church,

I have,

for the last four years.

I miss Sunday service,

only when I have no choice,

if,

I am sick, mom is sick,

never because,

I don’t feel like it,

I’m too tired,

the thing is-

I love going to church.

I love meeting,

with my faith community,

I love the hymns, the prayers,

the creeds, the peace,

I love having tea, or coffee,

and cookies, bagels, fruits, sandwiches,

I don’t care which,

I like the camaraderie,

the catching up,

I love the fact,

that we care,

about each other,

about our community,

about the world.

I can pray on my own,

I can read my bible,

I can do morning prayer,

and I do,

but, being part of a community,

is an important part.

of being a Christian,

as humans,

we need contact,

community.

I watched a service,

live streamed from Washington DC,

it was lovely.

I just listened to,

Choral Evensong,

from Christ Church Cathedral,

right downtown,

here in my beautiful ugly.

I visit the cathedral,

regularly.

In the next little while,

we need to protect,

our loved ones,

protect the vulnerable,

so church,

even… church.

is closed,

we will experiment,

find new ways to reach out,

call people, text people,

use zoom and any and all tools,

at our disposal.

Be kind to each, pray for each other,

and follow all the advice of public health officials,

these are dangerous times my friends,

lets help each other through it.

Be well, dear ones.

Later, girls,

Voluntary Social Isolation

Hello everyone, hope all is well.

It’s been a weird few days.

In the last two days,

the governments,

both provincial and municipal,

here in my beautiful ugly,

have taken important measures,

in order to protect the population,

from the Coronavirus(covid-19).

Some people are taking this lightly,

but most are not,

some people are overacting,

hoarding hand sanitizer and toilet paper,

but, that isn’t the majority,

not that there was any hand sanitizer to be found here in th ‘hood, but, it’s ok.

I have made provisons,

prescriptions and staple foods,

rice, pasta, canned tomatoes,

potatoes and sweet potatoes.

I will be making a large crock pot,

of soup and freezing some in case,

either of us gets sick ,

and shopping and cooking,

become complicated.

I will not be taking,

public transportation,

or attending events,

for the next two weeks,

and then we can reevaluate.

I am not really at risk, I am healthy,

I don’t travel etc, but,

my mom will be eighty,

in a few months,

and I cannot put her at risk.

Church has been cancelled,

and lots of activities that I partake in,

also.

I have a ton of books to read,

on Libby my app,

on my Kobo and,

real paper books.

I will read :

Annie Dillard-Pilgrim at Tinker Creek,

The Warden-Anthony Trolloppe,

The Bookshop-Penelope Fitzgerald,

An Open Book-Micheal Dirda,

Searching For Sunday-Rachel Held Evans,

that is to start,

stay home if you can,

and if you can’t,

stay home as much,

as possible.

Be well my friends,

read, rest, watch tv,

but please, be prudent,

think of those,

more vulnerable than you,

the very young,

the old,

those who have,

delicate health,

please don’t hoard and,

help each other,

we can get through this.

later girls,

Accident, cold, and the death of a poet

Hello all,

hope all is well in your world,

things are up and down,

around here,

mom had a bit of an accident.

sprained her ankle,

pretty bad,

lots of swelling and bruising,

we iced it as soon as it happened,

and thank the Lord,

there was no break,

still it has changed all kinds of plans,

but, it could have been so much worse.

It’s been cold, snowy, and generally,

yucky (to use a technical term)

🙂

The older I get,

the older my mother gets,

the less,

I like Winter.

Getting around can be tough.

The skies are often grey,

it’s cold, it’s damp, it’s slippery.

Tough to hope in the Winter,

sigh.

I don’t want you all to think,

it’s all grey,

because it isn’t,

there are lots of blue skies,

in Winter,

trouble is they are usually accompanied,

by brutal cold.

Brrrr.

I’ve been doing tons of reading,

for my class,

as well as in preparation,

of our Lenten book study at church,

studying a terrific book by Amy-Jill Levine

and for the prayer course at Supper Club.

you all know what a fan I am of the concept of Supper Club, and of the particular expression of it, in which I regularly take part.

Lent is a time of reflection,

a time of deep thinking,

of sacrifice,

of reaching for God,

in prayer,

solo,

in groups,

silent,

quiet.

So lots of thinking and praying,

going on.

By far,

the hardest thing that has happened,

was the death of an acquaintance,

a good acquaintance,

who would have become a friend.

He was a poet,

he was a delightful man.

A man of humour,

a man of unshakeable principle,

a generous and kind man,

a friend to many,

he wrote funny poems,

he wrote poignant poems,

he made me laugh.

The photo at the beginning of this post,

shows Jack(in green), Ken Mclaughlin (also known as Neath Turcot),

and moi in my favourite shirt,

reciting poetry with sock puppets,

it was a poem about our charter of rights,

that Jack wrote,

and I had been asked to stand in for another poet

(Blossom Thom) who was working on a major project.

Now,

I am no poet,

but,

Ken asked and,

I am very fond of Ken,

and once I met Jack,

I knew,

it would be a very positive experience,

and it was,

it was a delight,

a sunny interlude,

in a pretty dreary year.

We only ‘worked’ together for a few days,

and circumstances didn’t allow,

for a repeat of the experience.

I figured, we would perform again,

soon.

Sadly, Jack passed away earlier this week,

he was in his early sixties,

he was full of vim, of life..

Last night I attended, an informal get together,

a celebration of his life.

It was sad and it was sweet,

to see all these poets and artists gathered,

to pay tribute to Jack,

to support his partner, Karen.

heavy sigh.

When I met Jack this Summer,

after chatting for a while, I remembered,

that I had seen him at a poetry reading,

many years before and recalled,

a poem he had written on pain,

and bread( in French bread is pain)

Jack was a baker as well as a poet.

and how it had stayed with me,

that it was deep and cute and thoughtful,

a lot like the man.

Farewell Jack J Locke,

rest in power.

Later girls,

Recouping my voice

Good afternoon my friends.

Hope all is well,

in,

your little piece of the world.

Here, Spring has sprung,

and not a second too soon.

We might still get cold weather,

flurries even,

but once you have had,

a day or two over 15 degrees,

that’s Celsius for my Americans,

the end is foretold.

So all week,

I have been listening to tunes,

making my playlists,

revisiting old favourites,

music has really helped,

center me,

and I need centering.

Since the beginning of confinement,

I have had issues with concentration,

trouble reading,

trouble focusing,

it hasn’t been conducive,

to creation,

to writing.

In the last few weeks,

maybe three,

maybe two,

things have shifted.

I have embraced the,

buzz cut,

I have taken to singing,

while doing the dishes,

dancing in the kitchen,

in the afternoon,

I have walked twice a day,

mostly alone,

exploring different parts,

of my neighborhood.

I have felt Spring,

in my hair,

in my nostrils,

I have come, alive,

again.

I have reacquainted myself,

with my blog.

Seeing it through,

someone else’s eyes,

has brought me back,

to my voice.

My voice,

is not universal,

it is mine.

I need to write,

my voice,

my truth,

and when I do,

it’s good, it’s better.

Watching an old James Taylor,

interview today,

his analysis,

about the highly personal nature of his work,

it being about him, his life,

his experience.

It helped.

In the last year,

I had considered,

stopping my blog,

it had changed it wasn’t,

the same.

In the same way,

I have changed,

I am not the same,

butch,

who started this blog,

ten years ago,

but, you know,

I liked her,

and then for a while,

I lost her,

and now well…

she’s back,

older and having experienced,

more pain,

but, also,

yearning,

joy and discovery,

faith and love,

all of me,

is back,

with my scars and my faith,

my weirdness and my fun,

my past ,

my future.

Thanks for being here,

you all.

Later girls,

On Doctors, reading and love

Hello all,

hope all is well,

with all of you.

It’s January.

January, the season,

where,

mom and I visit doctors,

well for the last few years it has been.

Not the best time to get around,

snow, slush and ice,

heavy coats and boots,

but, it is,

what it is.

Fingers crossed,

the cataract issue can be resolved,

relatively quickly.

So mom can get back to reading,

and doing things that interest her.

She is doing fine,

it’s been a year,

and things are actually better,

than what had been,

prognosticated,

by the doctors.

Still, both our lives,

have changed.

We are managing, quite well.

But, some days are harder than others.

Sigh.

I have been doing a ton of reading.

I have my bible study-theology class,

that requires lots of reading,

the hebrew bible(old testament),

one or two books of the bible a week,

this week Amos and Hosea for example,

Most weeks we have two chapters,

in our textbook to read as well,

the textbook is,

an advanced undergraduate level text,

so, not light,

but neither is the subject.

Theology is a complex subject.

I am also doing some side reading,

in the theology field,

in the hope of discerning,

my calling.

I realize that might sound,

wackadoodle to some of you,

oh well,

it’s my life and my faith.

I also participate in,

Supper Club.

Supper Club is a unique form of worship.

We meet early evening,

once a month.

We have wine, chat,

share Supper,

and have some form of worship and discussion,

it’s wonderful,

lots of the participants,

are people who aren’t regular churchgoers,

but, want some God and worship in their lives.

An intelligent, caring, open minded bunch of people.

This year we are reading an erudite,

yet, accesible book.

Inspired: Slaying Giants, Walking On Water and Loving The Bible Again

Just as an aside, I would encourage those of you, who are seeking, to attend an Alpha group, or a Supper(Dinner) Club near you, you just might find what you are looking for, and if you don’t, you have a nice dinner in pleasant company, sure beats loneliness- IMHO.

My new church has lots of social stuff,

lots of it appeals to mom and I.

There are community lunches,

there are dinners,

usually one a month.

They are well attended and reasonably priced,

lots of work behind the scenes makes all this possible, volunteers the backbone of any church

My mom enjoys the dinners and lunches,

lots of really nice people,

many of whom belong to her generation.

Last Saturday,

we attended the roast beef dinner,

it was an anniversary dinner,

our church is the result of the unification,

of three parishes.

The fomer priests,

(Anglicans like Catholics use the term priest),

the bishop and many people ,

from other parishes in and around our neighbourhood,

were in attendance.

Mom and I sat with some lovely people,

who I go to church with and,

people I didn’t know.

For those of you who have never met me, I am a friendly type, I talk to people, I introduce myself, I laugh loudly, I like people and as a rule, they like me.

I sat next to this older lady,

who smiled and announced that the next day was,

her birthday!

I, of course, wished her happy birthday,

and we started to chat,

after a few minutes,

it became clear to me,

that she was a little confused,

she had memory issues,

no matter, I made small talk,

and answered,

what turned out to be the same questions,

quite a few times.

We all had wine,

ate our roast beef dinner,

and then there were a few speeches.

At one point, this lady,

leans over to me and says,

‘That priest is married to a guy you know?’

So I give her a beaming smile and say,

‘oh yes, he sure is’

She says ‘and you like him, they like him here?’

So I say ‘oh yes, he is well liked and respected here’

but, he’s married to a guy, says she.

I nod and talk to someone else.

A few minutes later,

she says the same thing,

I tell her we are Anglicans,

lots gay people in our church,

she scowls a little.

I keep smiling ,

Let me say this,

this woman was close to ninety,

it was an anniversary dinner,

I didn’t want to paricipate in a debate,

it was neither the time, nor the place,

plus, it would not have changed a thing.

I smiled talked to mom and others.

The third time, she said the same thing,

I looked at her smiled and said,

‘love is love’,

she said to me, ‘I would rather do without’.

This struck me as so,

sad.

First of all, she was confusing love and sex,

and secondly, she was cutting herself off,

from potential friendships and fellowship,

she was also being rude to people ,

who had never done a thing to her.

It also struck me as so clueless on her part,

here I was, butchy me, sitting next to her,

and it never occured to her,

that perhaps I was gay.

You know, this happens,

this sort of thing,

and not only at church events,

rarely at church events, in fact,

but that is a topic for another time.

Be well you all,

later girls,

Blue Monday and such

Good morning all,

I hope all is well with all of you.

My bff mentioned yesterday,

in one of our,

back and forth text conversations,

that it was,

Blue Monday.

I confess, I had no idea what Blue Monday was,

so I asked her,

is it a day to wear blue to the office?

Because if that’s the case I have got a ton of blue days, this butch loves her blue, you all, it is by far, my favourite colour

No, says the bff, it is apparently the saddest day of the year,

hmm, ok, I get it,

it’s Monday, it’s mid January,

post holiday excitement etc etc,

still I don’t get how one day,

becomes the saddest day of the year.

Please don’t think,

I am making light of melancoly,

of sadness,

of , much more seriously,

SAD(seasonal affective disorder)

or of depression,

because I take these things very seriously,

and I think we all need to.

What I find odd is assigning it a day,

and giving it a cutesy hashtaggy sort of name.

It’s smacks of marketing, it smacks of consumerism,

it’s smacks of a way to make a buck,

must be a way because that is foremost in so many minds

Because I think sadness, SAD, depression,

and,

I would add loneliness and lack of belonging,

are epidemic in our societies,

and I don’t think,

cute names, hashtags and designated days,

will fix that,

but, and this is a big BUT..

Maybe it can start to help,

start to sensitize people,

wake people up,

stop judging each other,

start caring about each other,

if you don’t understand something,

does that mean you should judge it?

condemn it?

It does not,

walk a mile in another’s shoes,

it will bring a whole new perspective,

and possibly painful bunions and heel spurs.

The world needs more joy, more community,

more friendship and more love.

What it doesn’t need is people judging each other,

ranting at each other,

we need to talk, we need to disagree,

we need to not lose our shit on each other,

we need to breathe.

Last year I read this book,

The Subtle Art Of Not Giving A F****,

it frustrated me, lots, the style was at times,

unbearably bad, it was major hashtaggy,

and in your face, but buried in there,

amongst the four letter words and acronyms,

was wisdom, lots of wisdom.

One of the wisest things in there,

was about how people are no longer allowed,

to have hobbies, they have to be sidehustles,

people always need to be doing something productive,

which is synonymous in our society with moneyable,

you have to brand yourself etc,

often when I read branding yourself I imagine a red hot branding iron heading right for my naked butt cheek, yikes.

What’s wrong with drawing for fun,

baking to makes others happy,

kniting things for people as tokens and expressions of love?

Not only is there nothing wrong with that,

it’s wondeful!!

At Christmas, I received, home baked goods,

from friends, from church family,

I received hand knit neck protectors and mittens,

acts of love, that’s what breaks loneliness and isolation.

SAD I believe mostly requires sun and vitamin D,

and depresssion needs clinical,

medical, pharmaceutical, help,

and patience and love with ourselves and others.

I am not overly fond of hashtags,

and catch phrases, like the latest:

self-care.

But, I do believe in love yourself and love your neighbour as yourself.

But, most of all I believe in being patient with others and yourself,

and not beating yourself up if you fail,

next time try again,

and you will fail, at patience, at all of it.

These have been the,

Meanderings of a January mind.

Be well you all,

Later girls,

Loneliness

Hello you all,

hope all is well in your part of the world.

The weather has been hard to take, here, in my beautiful ugly,

which is to be expected it being January and all.

Cold, Grey sunless skies, ice, snow, gloomy weather.

I have been afflicted by a combination of ,

melancoly,

and rage, lately, quite the team.

I feel tears coming on, twelve times a day,

and seething rage…probably as often.

I don’t cry except while watching movies or pampers commercials,

it isn’t an ‘I don’t want to’ kind of thing, it’s a ‘I can’t’ kind of a thing,

I wish I could, it would make things easier,

I would cry,

get rid of the pent up,

and move on.

I do get angry, I rant, I seethe, I mosltly walk it off,

but, not always, I get impatient,

with my mom, with my cat, with the people I love,

like anything going wrong in my life is their fault.

I get impatient, I get angry, I can’t say what I mean,

it comes out garbled, it creates conflict,

it creates hurt, it creates more silence from those,

who I so desperately want to talk to, hear from, share with.

Someone like me, someone who prides herself,

on communicating is doing a mostly crap job at it,

I feel paralysed with heartpain, with loneliness.

I have always had friends, I still do,

I think I overburden them in my desperation to talk,

I end up going on about the crap in my life, I catch myself,

and try to bring it back to the positive,

and there is tons of positive, from the sweet messages I receive, to the hand delivered mince pies, to thoughtful gifts from people I barely know, party invites , taken to Broadway shows, invited to brunches and coffees and on and on,

I am blessed and I am loved ,

and I am,

lonely.

It isn’t anyone’s fault, it’s circumstance,

maybe it’s me being weird(a distinct possibility)

I have spent most of my adult life,

talking, to customers, clients, colleagues,

and now, well, I don’t work,

the cat isn’t much of a conversationalist,

and my mother,

went to the Gary Cooper school of self expression,

Yup, Nope, I don’t know.

It is hard , I feel rivers of words raging to get out,

when I can, converse, I feel I overdo it, I talk too much,

I babble, I bore people, or fear I do, so I hold back,

and feel bad.

Last year, an acquaintance who I hoped,

would become a friend said I was never happy,

it wounded me, so much, I could have cried,

I had opened myself in the hopes of sharing, connecting,

I probably was being a bore, so I stopped talking.

My blog, has always helped me…get it out.

I can’t afford therapy, this is close as I get.

I share it on my facebook etc, so that, those of you,

who feel the hurt, the loneliness, the rage,

and occasional what the f*** am I going to do,

miasma,

will know,

you aren’t alone.

Be well,

you all,

Later girls,

p.s. please don’t feel you have to pep talk me or find me a solution, really. But, thank you

Belonging

Now that all the holiday get togethers and celebrations are over,

(hope they were all you wanted or needed),

we return to the bleak mid Winter,

so bleak and grey(well today, anyway)

This week is back to regular scheduled things,

my Wednesday evening class etc.

I started something last year,

I started keeping a journal,

it is not super literary, organized or exciting,

it is a record of my days, what I did, who I saw,

cooking, laundry, errands, what I am reading,

who I met for coffee, everyday stuff,

it is not full of my aspirations,

my dreams or my tensions and frustrations,

I try not to let pessimism enter into the quotidien of my journal.

But, I admit, I have been feeling pessimistic of late,

the state of the world: war, famine, Australia burning,

modern slavery, greed beyond measure,

it is disheartening.

But, mostly, I feel a lack of belonging.

Please dont misunderstand,

I am not reaching out for new friends,

I have friends,

they are wonderful and supportive.

I feel sad, I feel a lack of purpose,

I know its silly,

I have a family, I have friends, I have a cat

I have a church community, I have faith and prayer,

and yet, for all that these things, people, bring to my life,

I am still inhabited by a lack of belonging, purpose.

The reason I am writing this is because,

I feel I must not be,

the only one.

So, 2020, is about pulling back from the emptyness of social media,

mainstream media in general and reading more,

my class keeps me reading scripture and varied commentaries,

my fiction and non-fiction reading I want to be about learning,

about me, about the world, about history, about God….

I started this blog more than 10 years ago,

it was about what I read and saw and thought,

about culture, the world, politics, even,

it has changed, I have changed, it followed,

my journey, my losses, my wins,

through faith, and health scares,

and so much more.

I have left it by the wayside for a while,

because, I thought I had nothing to say,

but, as my dear mother so wisely pointed out to me,

a few months ago,

I have plenty to say, I was just censoring,

what I had to say,

some of which was because,

because,

I hurt too much to say certain things,

but, you cant get to truth if you dont state it,

if you dont face it,

the truth shall set you free but first it will piss you off,

As the great Gloria Steinem said.

So,

here is to a year of truth and purpose and belonging.

I had forgotten,

how much this blog helps to texture my thoughts.

Happy New Year, Peeps!

Later girls,

In The Bleak Midwinter Mussings

In the bleak midwinter, frosty wind made moan,
earth stood hard as iron, water like a stone;
snow had fallen, snow on snow, snow on snow,
in the bleak midwinter, long ago. traditional hymn based on a poem by Christina Rosetti

This time of year is most difficult for me,

from November to Christmas.

It is bleak, dark, cold, all is shades of grey,

I am grey.

I get more cheerful at Christmas and,

feel a surge of optimism as,

the New Year approaches.

Fact is: I dislike Winter and when I am unhappy,

I am most unhappy in Winter.

I can hear the pro Winter types now,

you need to embrace Winter,

you need to get outside,

get sporty,

whatever.

I have this to say: you like Winter?

I am happy for you.

I have lived in a Winter,

snowy, slushy, black ice,

cold, very cold, f****** cold, city ,

my whole life,

I think I know a thing or two,

about Winter,

and you know…I don’t like it.

I think snow is pretty,

I have a warm coat and boots,

but, I don’t like it,

I bear it and,

I dream of escaping it,

every Winter,

yup, truth.

I will bear it another Winter,

but, this new decade,

this I am excited and optimistic about.

It’s been a rough year, exhausting, physically and emotionally,

and for all of you who have been there with me, with us,

thank you.

I need to do something different,

I am happy with the class I am taking,

I am happy about things I have done,

this past year,

Alpha at my new church,

working for elections canada,

helping out with the Charter Poets,

staying home with mom,

helping her recover,

but, she is recovered and now,

I have to get going.

I had hoped to work with my church,

but, I don’t think that will be,

I will continue to volunteer,

and be a member of the community,

but, I need a paying job,

one that is flexible,

that allows time to take mom,

to doctors appointments etc.

It needs to be part time,

it needs to produce decent income.

I may need to make my own job,

who knows.

A few years ago, around my fifties,

I learned to say-No.

I have let that slip in the last few years,

I have made compromises,

that I thought were necessary,

I had no choice!

That isn’t true,

we always have choices,

we need to choose ways,

that don’t make us sick,

that don’t leave our stomach,

in constant knots.

We need to choose our truth,

love and friendship,

not close enough facsimiles.

We need to live our lives,

our lives,

not what others or society,

think our lives should be.

We need to listen to the deep yearnings,

of our hearts, our souls,

we need to believe in ourselves,

in what we are called to do,

even if we aren’t quite sure,

what that is

🙂

So although it is the bleak midwinter,

and this is a bit of a rant of the same old same old,

from me,

I feel ok, I am moving forward.

Please don’t worry,

but, thank you for caring.

My lordGod, I have no idea where I am going. I do not see the road ahead of me. I cannot know for certain where it will end.Nor do I really know myself …Thomas Merton Lead Me

I figure if Merton, a brilliant, accomplished and Godly man, could be confused, so can I, so can you.

Have a great one,

be well.

Later girls,

It’s been a minute…

Hello all, it’s been a minute since I wrote on the blog, I started a few drafts, I wasn’t happy with them, so I let them lay there. This morning, I deleted the drafts. 2019 is almost over and here comes another decade, the 20’s (I wonder if flappers will make an appearance) It’s been a hard year , really hard. My mother was ill, we dealt with it pretty well, she is mostly back to normal, but, it takes it’s toll, physically and emotionally. I am grateful that we are there for each other and that in spite of everything we are still standing.

Work and lack there of, has been really hard. For the first few months, mom needed me at home and I was pretty much constantly worried, it changed our lives. I was home all the time, she was home all the time, it was hard emotionally and financially, I didn’t have a job and I couldn’t find one because at first I couldn’t leave her and then, I was too worried to leave her.

Not working is hard, and not just in, the obvious ways(lack of money and dependance) but in many other ways, in more subtle ways, you feel less than, you feel a certain shame(you know you shouldn’t, but you do) A 54 year old woman, reasonably intelligent and well read.You tell yourself it is temporary, but, every day you lose a little more confidence in yourself and in the future. Even your faith at times is…not enough.

People have been there for me, the ones you can always depend on, the ones who drive you to the hospital, the ones who pick you up, who take you to breakfast, who invite you out and always say’ my treat’. There are others, who you don’t know well but who reach out and ask how you are, how’s your mom? and who genuinely listen, who have been where you are, in despair and the unknown, who know about aging parents and illness. There are also people who feel uncomfortable with people in crisis, who want you to get on with it, get a job, any job, your mom will be fine, go to welfare, no shame in that!

In the Spring I started seeing a sort of guidance counsellor and then a career counsellor , it helped with my confidence level. I changed churches, the new one was closer, their social justice ministry resonated with me, I liked the no nonsense salt of the earth people in the congregation and around the church. I have been there a while, I am happy there, feel accepted and hope to contribute more.

I have also been taking a seminar type class, EFM(education for ministry) I love it, lots of reading, lots of delving deep into scripture as a lay person. In a few months I have grown to really appreciate the people in my class, and the mentors who lead the class, they are good people.

I had a contract woking for Elections Canada, I liked it, it was exhausting but, I liked it, met lots of people, a lot of them were nice people, it helped. I was hoping for something else but, it hasn’t worked out.

I went to lunch with a friend today, she listens. I told her, you know, I have been lucky in many ways, friends, family, I have been gifted through good genes and providence with a decent intelligence and an ability to make friends, to talk to people, I like people, they like me.

So here comes 2020, right around the corner. I wish you all Happy Holidays and a most joyous New Year, let’s hope it’s a good one without any fear. If I could make one request, next time a friend tells you things are tough, they are sad, listen, don’t brush it off, don’t try to find a solution, I know we all want to find solutions, just listen…sometimes people just need to be heard

I hope to resume writing the blog in the new year

Be well,

dear ones,

Later girls,