For some reason....make that many reasons, I have the song, "Showers of Blessings" running through my head today. As I wind down on one chapter of my life.... 36 work days left....and begin another chapter of my life....retirement; I can't help but think of all the blessings I have experienced in my life.
I don't mean only the trips and places I have seen and experienced, but the little things that are really so BIG that it causes my heart to overflow with tears of joy!
A loving husband who supports me in my dreams and loves me unconditionally.
A wonderful family that has stayed close in heart and soul; despite our differences in personality and lives.
A whole bunch of friends from all phases of my life.... grade school, high school, work, church and our over-55 neighborhood.
A long career in the medical business field, that has changed so much and demands so much from those trying to get and provide medical services.
A group of staff to work with that are committed to making the patient satisfied, even when they are exhausted and overwhelmed with all the demands their position requires of them.
A comfortable house that is mortgage-free!
A car that runs safely and isn't prone to break down.
A bank account that allows me to buy the groceries that we need without wondering what I have to leave off the list.... and guess what I forgot to buy today...HEB Candy Bar Classic ice cream!
I guess that's one of the reasons I am writing these gratitude thoughts is because if I can forget ice cream, I may just start forgetting all these blessings some day. I hope not!
Saturday, August 31, 2013
Tuesday, August 13, 2013
New beginnings!
August 13, 1985
After a couple of days of working with the Business Office staff, the CFO wanted to treat me to a night exploring the town. BUT his wife was nine-and-a-half months pregnant, so he asked a guy in the Purchasing department if it was OK if he took me out-and-about New Orleans. I said sure! I had met Paul when he came to California to take care of inventory of the clinic supplies and what was being shipped back to Louisiana for the clinics there. Paul seemed nice enough and I had no interest in a guy from New Orleans.... remember I was going to find myself a good ol' farm boy in Wisconsin!
Paul, being ever frugal, broke and single-again, asked the CFO if he could use petty cash to treat me to dinner. So out exploring we went... Uptown; Garden district; dinner at Copelands; Downtown; French Quarter; Jackson Square; Pat O'Briens; and a walk and long talk on the banks of the Mississippi. I found him so easy to talk with and very pleasant. We had a very good time!
We started writing, being friends, visiting each other....he came to St. Paul (where I lived and worked) in December. What a brave soul! Not only to brave January weather, but to meet my family too. Things moved fast....too fast. In February, our relationship crashed and burned. In late summer we made up again and in October I visited him in Atlanta (where he had moved during the break-up). I spent Thanksgiving with my family and moved to Atlanta that weekend. I have moved across country a few times, so it was no biggie for me. A new adventure..... in another state and in a relationship too!
So it was that three years later on August 13, 1988, we married in Ringgold, Georgia. Now you know the rest of the story!
After a couple of days of working with the Business Office staff, the CFO wanted to treat me to a night exploring the town. BUT his wife was nine-and-a-half months pregnant, so he asked a guy in the Purchasing department if it was OK if he took me out-and-about New Orleans. I said sure! I had met Paul when he came to California to take care of inventory of the clinic supplies and what was being shipped back to Louisiana for the clinics there. Paul seemed nice enough and I had no interest in a guy from New Orleans.... remember I was going to find myself a good ol' farm boy in Wisconsin!
Paul, being ever frugal, broke and single-again, asked the CFO if he could use petty cash to treat me to dinner. So out exploring we went... Uptown; Garden district; dinner at Copelands; Downtown; French Quarter; Jackson Square; Pat O'Briens; and a walk and long talk on the banks of the Mississippi. I found him so easy to talk with and very pleasant. We had a very good time!
We started writing, being friends, visiting each other....he came to St. Paul (where I lived and worked) in December. What a brave soul! Not only to brave January weather, but to meet my family too. Things moved fast....too fast. In February, our relationship crashed and burned. In late summer we made up again and in October I visited him in Atlanta (where he had moved during the break-up). I spent Thanksgiving with my family and moved to Atlanta that weekend. I have moved across country a few times, so it was no biggie for me. A new adventure..... in another state and in a relationship too!
So it was that three years later on August 13, 1988, we married in Ringgold, Georgia. Now you know the rest of the story!
Monday, August 12, 2013
Thee End??
Twenty-eight years ago today, I thought that my life as I knew it was ending. The previous week I had arrived at my parents home to stay there for awhile. My job in California had ended with the shut-down of the 12 urgent care clinics I worked for. It was my first time being laid-off and since I had spent three years in California; and I was not in a relationship; and I was almost 34 years old..... I decided to move back to Wisconsin.
These may be all good reasons to think my life was ending, but not me! I was looking forward to a new life and another change! I was going to look for a good-ol' Wisconsin farm boy and get myself married!
Well, before that occurred, I had one more obligation for my previous employer. That obligation was to fly down to New Orleans and teach the business office staff down there how to follow up with California Medical (Medicaid) and get the companies last dollars for our services in California. So Monday morning, August 12, 1985, I was on the plane to New Orleans. Just a week or so earlier, a plane had crashed in Dallas due to wind shear or bad weather. It always seems to happen that I have a flight booked shortly after some kind of airplane crash!
So this day there was a nasty storm brewing in MSP (Minneapolis-St Paul) and we took off in it! The plane was bucking and rolling and the lightning, thunder and rain were torrential as we climbed into the storm. This is when I thought, "My life is going to end today!" All I could do was pray, "God, if it's my time to go, it's my time. I know where I'm going (heaven) and I'm OK!" I don't recall praying anything other than that, because I truly believed there was no alternative than death.
Uffda! Somehow, sometime later, we broke through the storm clouds and continued southward. Of course, I did make it to New Orleans. Since then I have flown probably close to 100 or more flights and never once have I again experienced any severe storm like that. Not even close! Go figure! Or maybe, pilots are little more cautious now.
Anyway, God had other plans for me other than "my life as I knew it was ending." Or maybe, He did know "my life as I knew it was ending." Stay tuned tomorrow for the rest of the story! :)
These may be all good reasons to think my life was ending, but not me! I was looking forward to a new life and another change! I was going to look for a good-ol' Wisconsin farm boy and get myself married!
Well, before that occurred, I had one more obligation for my previous employer. That obligation was to fly down to New Orleans and teach the business office staff down there how to follow up with California Medical (Medicaid) and get the companies last dollars for our services in California. So Monday morning, August 12, 1985, I was on the plane to New Orleans. Just a week or so earlier, a plane had crashed in Dallas due to wind shear or bad weather. It always seems to happen that I have a flight booked shortly after some kind of airplane crash!
So this day there was a nasty storm brewing in MSP (Minneapolis-St Paul) and we took off in it! The plane was bucking and rolling and the lightning, thunder and rain were torrential as we climbed into the storm. This is when I thought, "My life is going to end today!" All I could do was pray, "God, if it's my time to go, it's my time. I know where I'm going (heaven) and I'm OK!" I don't recall praying anything other than that, because I truly believed there was no alternative than death.
Uffda! Somehow, sometime later, we broke through the storm clouds and continued southward. Of course, I did make it to New Orleans. Since then I have flown probably close to 100 or more flights and never once have I again experienced any severe storm like that. Not even close! Go figure! Or maybe, pilots are little more cautious now.
Anyway, God had other plans for me other than "my life as I knew it was ending." Or maybe, He did know "my life as I knew it was ending." Stay tuned tomorrow for the rest of the story! :)
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