August is a complex month for me. Filled with smiles and tears.  Even as I celebrate my birthday, I can’t help but remember the other significant days of August.  My mother, good friend Sunny Evans, and  Golden Retriever Sophie, all died in August. My birthday is the only day left to celebrate.

This year isn’t considered one of the “big ones,” but at a certain point in life, they’re all pretty big. This will be my last year as a woman in her sixties. When you’ve traveled as many decades as have I, you  realize that no matter the outward changes in your face and body, inside you remain the child and young woman you once were. I saw this truth in my mother. As her life moved towards its end, the little girl filled with wonder who took delight in the smallest things was reawakened.

And speaking of delight: WELCOME to my BRAND NEW website. I hope you’ll spend some time, look around, sign up for my newsletters, and send me a message so I’ll know you were here.

This month has had its challenges due to cataract surgery which has left me in a blurry world filled with black spots called floaters. I’m not used to them so I think everything is dirty and needs cleaning. I’m hoping my second surgery goes smoother and with a better result.

My vision has narrowed my world and taken away my freedom to leave home whenever I please. The big whoopee you’ll hear in late September (when I get new glasses), will be me replaying my sixteen-year-old-self the day she got her driver’s license and drove off alone.

Until then, I will continue to challenge myself by focusing on the opportunity I am offered—the time to be still and go inward. To practice what all the books I read long ago advised: Be Here Now; Chop Wood, Carry Water; Bloom Where You’re Planted.

Thank you to my wonderful husband and to my friends who have stuck by me most of the decades of my life. You make it all worthwhile.

With love,

Ginni