A Bit of Catch Up

What a crazy season of life.

As I talked about I. My last post, death has seemed to be all around me. It’s been particularly difficult to know my friend Ursula is not on this earth. Particularly at this time of year. She and her husband Marc gave some of the best 4th of July pictures ever. The firework show was a sight to behold, as was the sight of a bunch of balloonists setting them off. There was always lots of laughter, crazy ideas, and well thought out safety procedures. Yes, balloonists are more aware of safety than most. Ursula and I generally sat fairly close together, trading quips and criticizing the music, good and bad.

My goal is always to celebrate life. My friends and family may not be here anymore, but how lucky am I that they were in my life?

But life abounds! The daughter of one of my best friends since college just had her first baby. What joy! I was with her parents through pregnancy, birth, and life. Seeing her become a mother is a beautiful thing.

Seeing the children of others have babies reminds me that life goes on.

And balloon camp – I spent a week volunteering at the end of June at a hot air balloon camp for teens in Georgia. My job was taking pictures and video – it’s amazing for me to capture the moment a teenager inflates a balloon for the first time or their confidence in flying that balloon takes them to pilot status. (Yes, you have to train and take written tests, fly so many hours, solo, and pass what is called a “check ride”.

Joy, joy, joy! The staff is made up of people who care about teens, so they’re a blast themselves. Other than getting up at 4:45 a.m., it’s all a great time.

I came back early to go to a Joe Jackson concert. Gosh – he was worth waiting for. His lyrics were before his time or in other words still so relevant. My friend Beth went with me, but we sat on different rows. You know me – I want a good seat! I jumped the gun on buying my ticket, but Beth is a friend who goes with the flow. Unless she doesn’t like the flow.

I’ve been looking at travel plans for the rest of the year. I plan to be in Wales in November to celebrate Remembrance Day. I’m looking at other places to go when I’m there. How about Tenerife? I’ve never been to Spain, so never to the Canary Islands. It’s supposed to be in the 70s then. or around 21C – that’s probably my favorite temperature,

I’m also looking at lots of other places. I’m not one to plan trips far in advance, but want to travel a lot during this season of life. The tension comes from loving where you live and being involved with the fun here.

So proud of my nephew John. He recently finished his Basic Law Enforcement training, where he was given an award for saving a life. A guy in his class, who had lost his dad at 27 of a heart attack, had a heart attack when training. I believe he was also in his 20s. I understand my nephew took charge and the guy had a much better outcome than his father.

This nephew has worked at the state mental hospital as a CNA since he was young, so is almost at full retirement there. He was given an office job early on there. At 20 years of employment he gets full retirement, which includes medical coverage. As he has worked there he hiked a lot in his spare time – then got involved in land and water rescues – where he has also won awards, I look forward to seeing what he ends up doing in this next phase of his life. I do know it includes marriage – he is engaged to the lovely Hannah and we look forward into officially welcome her into our family. He is on such an exciting path – well planned and lived well.

The 250th anniversary of our country was spent at the lake with friends. A delicious dinner, followed by a wonderful boat ride to watch fireworks on the lake. No better way to celebrate!

Here’s a bit of our Declaration of Independence to ponder.

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.–That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, –That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.”