Some years ago I woke up in the middle
of the night – sitting straight up and saying, “I’m a clown and I’m walking”!
It felt completely real to me. So of course I went to clown school the
following summer! My clown name was Apple. I really enjoyed my clown-mates and
still love watching their lives, but I am not a clown. I'd have to learn to clown. I don't have to learn to walk, so
the remaining question is, what does “I’m walking” mean, and how does it fit
into my life?
When I was 8, my mother brought home a
woman who had been walking alongside the road with a suitcase. When my mother
asked if she needed a ride and where she was going, the woman answered, “I’m
going where I’m needed.” She helped at our house for 3-4 months and then
moved on. Periodically I’ve thought about her and recently realized that 60 long years ago she planted the seed and
became a guide for me. "I'm walking" means I'm going where I'm
needed with my little suitcase and my enthusiasm! She showed me how... she started walking.
I’m going on a year-long,'round
the world adventure, to places where people need what I can give. Sure, there
are places here in the US where I could go, but selfishly I’d like one more,
big, overseas trip. So I’m going to grab the wave that's been rising and I’m
going to hang on tight and give it all I’ve got. All the way to my core I know
that it’s the right thing for me to do. I know also that I am exceptionally
lucky that timing, opportunity and good health merged at this moment.
In this moment though, it’s
time for appreciations and acknowledgements of the people who have inspired me, and those who have helped make this trip real.
My wonderful, loving parents taught all their children to be thoughtful of the wider world
and to be fully involved in the lives we each chose. My family ran a small
B&B which seemed to attract fascinating people. I remember story-telling
around the dinner table with guests, friends and acquaintances - people from
near and far. People who observed, who struggled, who sculpted their lives into their own personal shape - and they told us about it. I learned to LOVE
hearing good stories, well told, and I hope to carry the tradition forward in
this blog.
Appreciations to my profession of nurse
practitioner, which I used fully, not just as a way to make a living, but as a
way to explore and expand my own life and the lives of others – and to my
other profession of Montessori elementary teaching which reconnects me to
young, vigorous minds and dreams, and has forced me to approach people
differently.
I am deeply grateful to Bill and Ripley with whom I’ve shared the intimacy of the ups and downs of family life, and
who might not fully understand me, but are willing supporters of this highly
individualized, madcap adventure of mine.
I bow to my many dear friends who acted
surprised only for a moment and then encouraged my every step.
Surprise and awe to the reunion-ers
I’ve reconnected with just in this year alone. The 63rd kindergarten
reunion, 50th reunions at the hometown school I’d gone to for 10
years and the boarding school from which I graduated, the 45th
reunion from nursing school, the 33rd reunion of the beginning of
NPACE, an eventful reunion of the early days at HCHP, the 21st birthday parties of the Lamaze class babies..... So
many, many reflections on times spent together and the changing/unchanging
quality of our lives.
Those were big events for one year and
in every one there was a thread of “what do you suppose the next 20 years will
bring?” Somehow those conversations caused a pressure wave inside that made me realize,
“I want to travel and use my all my skills and talents.”
When an older friend said to me, “If that’s what you want, then do it
NOW,” I decided she knew something about aging that I’d
better hear. Do it NOW!
Since last July the plan has been
slowly taking shape. I’ve tested and retested in my mind and heart how it
will work out and whether I have what it takes to grab this wave. I
DO! I’m going to hold on for dear life and trust that each breathtaking
wavelet will touch my heart and soul in ways I haven’t yet imagined. (and I
will work every single day to remain healthy.)
I am so appreciative that you’ll be
with me on and off along the way. Send notes too and keep me grounded in
the loops of your lives.
So here goes ..... the blog starts
now.....
though the travel starts in June!
