MY FINAL LAP

Reflections on Retirement

I am entering the final lap of my life. Like Canadian geese either flying north for the summer or south for the winter, suspended in air, it does not matter where my destination lies—only the flight itself.

Home: Welcome

Patricia

Dec 82 min read

Skipping Down Staircases

There’s an old person living in my body. I noticed her a while ago but didn’t give her much thought. She felt familiar enough to be...

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Patricia

Nov 102 min read

Tiaras of Remembrances

My youngest grandsons are 13 and 17 years old. They have been a major part of my life since their first breaths, and regular overnighters...

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Patricia

Nov 32 min read

2 Days Before the Election

It’s just two days before the 2024 presidential election. The nation is sorely divided; many are anxious, frightened even, about the...

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Patricia

Sep 82 min read

White Dog and a Baby

In today’s world one can’t be too careful. Parents must deal with the possibility of a school shooter. Worshipers may wonder if there’s a...

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Patricia

Aug 132 min read

Camping Adventure

I’d been whining about our lack of family camping trips for a while. We used to go every Labor Day Weekend –my son and his family, my...

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Patricia

Jun 252 min read

It Finally Got Me

I knew it right away–the monstrous headache and nausea coupled with congestion and coughing. No ordinary cold or allergies, I quicky...

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Patricia

May 262 min read

Acceptance Isn’t Always an Embrace

I only just caught my breath from the new year’s arrival and it’s already quickly reaching the halfway mark. Is time speeding up while...

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Patricia

Apr 202 min read

Ruminations

As I think about my life, I realize I’m like a great many other people. Life is not simple and it’s not complicated; it’s both. A lot of...

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Patricia

Feb 232 min read

113th Birthday

Today is my mother’s birthday; she would be 113. She died of an aortic aneurysm that burst in her 83rd year. She smoked numerous...

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Memories—Guarded Citadels of Self-Identity

Patricia

Jan 54 min read

Memories—Guarded Citadels of Self-Identity

It’s taken me eight decades to finally absorb a basic truth: pain creates its own memories. Apart from logic, immune from rationality,...

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Patricia

Dec 1, 20232 min read

Infinity & Me

It’s December and I’m turning 80 . . . The number 80 contains the infinity sign tipped upright –and a zero because nothing can be added...

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Patricia

Nov 11, 20232 min read

Thankful Distractions

I was on Hwy 101 headed for a fabric store less than 15 minutes from my home. Speeding along I was struck by an arresting array of clouds...

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Patricia

Oct 1, 20232 min read

Kaleidoscope

We had the first real rainfall of the season yesterday, the last day in September. It felt like both tears of sorrow and relief mixing...

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Patricia

Aug 28, 20232 min read

Stepping Into Rainbows

My home environment is crucial to my well-being. It’s where my last thoughts of the day slip into dreams and my first thoughts in the...

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Patricia

Aug 12, 20232 min read

Life Significant

Today the news is much about the wildfire on Maui that destroyed the city of Lahaina. 93 souls dead and counting, many probably native...

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Patricia

Jul 4, 20232 min read

Stars, Security, and a Sleep Story

It’s the 4th of July and I’m just starting to see light at the end of an unexpectedly long pain tunnel. Eight days ago, I underwent my...

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Patricia

Jun 12, 20232 min read

Two Trout and an Anniversary

Ten days ago, two of my former colleagues came to town to take me to lunch before my scheduled second hip surgery at the end of June. We...

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Patricia

May 7, 20232 min read

Baseball & Shamrocks

Grounded, my bare feet rest on three-leaf clover that has taken over the grass. I’m sitting under a tree watching my youngest grandson...

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Patricia

Apr 15, 20232 min read

The Gift of Silence

My childhood was filled with silence. I remember being alone much of the time. Other people’s voices were mostly not present as I looked...

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Patricia

Feb 16, 20232 min read

10-Years Ago Today

It’s been 10-years ago today that I moved into my lovely little duplex, calico kitty in tow. We would begin life over together, just the...

MY FINAL LAP

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