One of the best years of my retirement, 2015 was filled with fun. At least, the first 11 months of it was. From spending the winter in San Antonio and the summer in Upstate New York with family and friends in both places, who could ask for more? I jammed this year full of happy times and fun things with my kids and grandkids. As I look back at 2015, I thank God for it. It was as though he was telling me to live my life as if tomorrow will never happen…… And I did. Thanks to my family and friends for those happy times that I think about often, and will live in my heart forever.

Aha, this was the year of my blog. I have always wanted to write a blog but was afraid that I would run out of things to talk about, so I didn’t do it. (me, run out of things to talk about, stop laughing!)  My hope for the blog was that I would encourage my family and friends to pick up a good book, smile at something I did or didn’t do, try something new and different, but more than anything else, I want to encourage folks to live life to the fullest. Love as though there is nothing else in the world. And Laugh, for we all know that laughter is the best medicine. Time is one of our most valuable assets, use it wisely!

Unfortunately, December brings sadness for my family and me.  I began to have stomach pains, not bad at first, but progressively getting worse. On December 23rd, my daughter in law looked up at me and then at Jeff and said, “Get dressed we are going to take mom to Urgent Care!” And so we did. On December 24th, I was diagnosed with Ovarian Cancer. My life has changed forever. It has been three months now, and as I try to adjust and find the bright side to all of this, I can’t help but think of all the wonderful years that I have had. It would be a lie if I said that thanking God for all the good things in my life was my first thought because it certainly wasn’t. I was angry, very angry! I screamed at God and asked the usual why me questions, and the good Lord knows I cried a LOT!

My living independently is gone. I now live with my son and daughter in law. Lucky for me I have a very pleasant living environment and am well taken care of. I am hoping that as time goes on, I will be able to do more to help them out, especially with the cooking, which I love and miss very much. Time will tell….

Anyway, I have had 3 chemo treatments, the first one failed and left me extremely frustrated and in tears. However, the 2nd one was successful and has given me new hope. Results from the 3rd treatment will be forthcoming. I am praying for good results again. I have lost my hair which actually doesn’t bother me. I know it will grow back and with any luck, it will be a nicer color. Silver like my mom had would be nice.

Please understand, that I am not looking for sympathy, a little prayer would be nice. I just wanted to let my friends know what is going on in my life, especially since I have not been as active as I was for the first 11 months of the year. Hoping to get back into things soon.

In closing, I want to say that whatever the outcome is, I have lived a wonderful life. I had a great career having worked for two major companies giving me the opportunity for promotions, and taking me from NY to GA and finally to FL. After my retirement, I continued my journey and lived in AZ and now TX. I have met some amazing people along the way and have made many friends. I am so grateful for the folks who have come into my life, each of you has made some kind of impact on me. I may not chat with all my friends other than on FB, but rest assured,  I do think of you and I thank God daily for all of you. And of course, my family makes my life worth living. I am very proud of my sons, my daughter in laws, my stepchildren and my grandchildren. They make me smile all the time. But I am guessing that everyone already knows that since I post on facebook all the time, especially about these wonderful grandchildren that I have been blessed with.

I am posting my picture with this blog post and although I am not at all embarrassed by my baldness, I am not going to show it to you.

me

Wishing everyone a wonderful 2016, which is well underway!

And don’t forget to:

Live, Love, Laugh, and by all means, READ!

Sharon