Tag: empty nest

The Letter Opener

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The coffee bar was loved by my daughter and me. We know a variety of ways to create a cup of the magical brew, so beans and gadgets deserved a dedicated space. When she moved out, I sent half of it with her. She took her favorite parts and left mine with me, so there was a lot of empty space.

Sitting in my corner, I look at the table to my right, and its contents describe me. It’s where I sit most mornings after my walk to enjoy that first cup of the day. I’ve been trying to take a picture of this item lying in place, but it’s so shiny it confuses the camera. My corner is also where I sit to read letters from friends, so that’s where the letter opener resides. I never knew I needed a letter opener until I met Dawn.

Dawn mentioned in one of her letters that she sat down with her letter opener and a nice cup of tea to read mine. “That’s the proper way,” she said. I didn’t have a letter opener, but Google could locate one for purchase. An online search revealed one made by Reed & Barton, and that seemed proper to me. The box it came in was so elegant it was difficult to leave it out of the box. Every time I’d use it, which took time to learn the proper way, I’d put it back in the box. Once I started receiving letters more frequently, the box found its home in a drawer, and the letter opener became a tool of everyday life. My daughter told me not to leave it laying by the front door. “If someone broke in, it would be like handing them the weapon,” she said.

The camera wasn’t sure what to focus on.

My gratitude is overwhelming for the souls who add light to my path with letter’s written and received. The love shines as brightly as the letter opener.

Wait and See

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I schedule a haircut every 4 to 5 weeks, depending how quickly it grows. Looking online at my hairdressers availability she had several openings, but Tuesday at 10:00am felt right. I checked my schedule to see if that would work, but didn’t make the appointment immediately because the weather forecast was calling for a rainy weekend all the way through Tuesday.

My daughter has left the nest, but I still have her two dogs and they’re afraid of storms, so I was hesitant to leave the house for a haircut if that was the case. I decided to take a shower and start my day, but as I stepped out of the shower the thought, ‘Tuesday at 10’, came to mind. I decided to check and see if the haircut appointment was still available considering that’s the only ‘Tuesday at 10’ I’d thought about.

It’s difficult to have faith in meteorologists and I don’t coordinate my life around the forecast. Sometimes it’s best to take a look at the sky. It will tell you it’s story and always has one to tell. Storms are a stress factor for me. I don’t like thunder, lightning, high winds or torrential rains. My neighbor, Hercules sits on his front porch and enjoys watching the storm, while Barb is over here praying for God to calm it.

Texas has some mighty storms and I wasn’t excited over the possibility of more. I believe God knows my heart and knows how much I can handle. With all the changes that have occurred already this year, I was on edge toward anymore disruptions. I kept thanking Him for His plan which has a tendency to trump the forecast. I’ve seen it so many times before where no storm came even though it was in the forecast.

I scheduled the haircut appointment by faith. The salon is closed on Sunday and Monday, so I wouldn’t have adequate time to cancel the appointment if needed. On Monday it continued to rain, but it was gentle and I slept peacefully through Monday night. Tuesday morning I awoke to stillness and realized I’d be able to make my appointment because there was no storm. My hope for you is to put more faith in a greater plan. No matter what the world is predicting, faith overcomes fear and can weather any storm.

Trust and be willing to wait and see.

Turn it Around

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I’m not sure what the next chapter of my life holds, but I’m excited to watch it unfold. There’s not a great deal of certainty in this world, but that’s part of the intrigue.

Recently, I noticed taking my laptop over to the kitchen table to write so I’d have a view through the window. Mind you, my desk is sitting 10 feet away, but it’s facing the den which is pretty, but a dead-end view. It’s soothing to hear the thump of the laptop onto the table, knowing writing would come next. I’m a big believer in the quote by Burton Rascoe, “A writer is working when she’s staring out the window.” I’ve written quite a bit about our view while writing and it’s imperative to me for the words to flow.

Once done writing, I’d take the laptop back over to my desk, and plug it in to begin working. It almost became a sort of ritual, like writing time is over, and now back to the real world. To put a stop to this back and forth was to simply turn my desk around, so it’s facing that window, and that’s what I did. I’ve been pondering the simplicity of it and know that what I did with my desk can be used in many areas of life. If we want a better option, there’s possibility in there waiting for a helping hand to turn it around.

Geninne’s Art

Ride the Elephant

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I’m officially an empty nester. I’ve known since May my daughter was going to be living on her own, but it was daunting when she came to pick up some of her things to take to her new home. The next morning, I walked through the house and could see and feel the empty spaces.

One of my books for morning reading is Simple Abundance by Sarah Ban Breathnach. Recently, she wrote about her family vacationing years ago at a beach resort and one afternoon there was a surprise activity for the children: a ride on an elephant around the hotel parking lot. Her little girl was delirious with excitement and that night as she tucked her daughter in bed she said, “Some mornings you wake up not knowing what will happen during the day and you get to ride an elephant!”

Delirious with excitement. We were designed to be that way, but life can bury the child in all of us over years of trying to make it through the day. I don’t wish to simply make it through the day, but instead see what the day has to offer. The weekend is here and I purposefully didn’t make any plans. I want to leave plenty of space for these two days to unfold on their own. If I was sitting on a beach near a hotel with activities for a child, you know me well enough to know…I’d have to ride the elephant.

Photo by Geran de Klerk on Unsplash