I apologize to all my readers out there. It has been a long time since I last sat down to write, and share with you my “Pink” journey. The road has been long, and I am so happy and grateful to get this far. I reread the last post. Interestingly enough, I was still very angry. The anger seemed to subside this last year. A welcome relief. Most of you might not understand that anger that you get when you have cancer. It is such a loss of control over your own life.
All that aside, here’s my update: Life has been good very good. I made a big change. I packed up and left Whidbey Island and sold the house. I moved to my old home town in North Dakota where I have family, fond memories and am creating new ones. And, I am loving it. I enjoy my family being so close by. I enjoy the stars at night which I can actually see here. I enjoy the small town life, and the fact I can get out of town in two minutes! I treasure thinking about new things and moving forward.
I picked up my camera and started shooting pictures again! First it was old barns, and that expanded to abandoned churches. From there I went on to find interesting twisting roads, and friendly cows that are happy to stand with their running noses and watch me and wonder what I find so fascinating about them. I smell the air. My senses are so acute here! I can see clouds, and sun….oh that wonderful warm sun on my face. And I hear NOTHING! The ground does not move. I see the source of our food supply. People actually stop and talk about the gardens. I am sure they all think I am weird because I see their lives as so valuable, enjoyable and livable.
And I have experienced something I have not in many years, I am happy.
I even bought an old house. There’s even a story behind the old house. I closed on the house in July, and found out in late August that the house belonged to my father’s parents. My grandparents owned this house! I found out interestingly enough when the papers which here they call an abstract, arrived. These papers give you a list of who owned the house, and all the transactions that passed since the house was built. In 1965 the house was transferred out of the estate of Nettie K Ellingson, to Don Conroy. Amazing. Nettie Ellingson was my grandmother who died when I was 3.
Life in a small town may go at a slower pace, but you can get a lot more done because you are not sitting on the freeway looking at the license plate in front of you. I love driving the roads in the country. Its amazing how much of my childhood is in my memory and helps me find my way across this vast estate. I stop and take time to look at the fields and the cows, and I spend a lot of time laughing at myself. My dog Toby is my faithful companion and I’ve already put 10K miles on my car this summer.
Next time I’ll post some pictures, as this time I am writing at the Public Library. What a hoot! I have time to do that now. I am taking time, and really living my life, one hour at a time. The wounds are healing, and Seattle is left in the past, along with a lot of good friends, good memories but I am looking forward to the future and living life moving forward.
Life is good everyone. Remember that, life is really good.
