Back to Beauty

When I started blogging 12+ (?) years ago, my life looked drastically different. I still had kids at home, we owned our own business, and we'd settled into our filled-to-the-brim life in beautiful Southern Oregon. Looking back, I feel like I don't even know the person I was back then. I didn't know what real grief felt like. I didn't know what it felt like to have my boys half a world away in hostile territory. I didn't understand how losing our business would fracture us so deeply as a couple and as a family. I also didn't know that someday I would be a published author, or that my heart would quadruple in size with the arrival of 4 grandchildren. I also couldn't have wrapped my brain around the circumstances that would lead me to transition to the East coast from the West - a landscape I have known for 51 years, a part of my heart and my identity, and a place I know I've been called to leave - for now.

As David and I slowly transition from Oregon to Florida for the rest of 2021, I want to chronicle our journey, but I also just want a place to dump my thoughts and ... dare I say it? My feelings. 

I've missed the days of just sharing whatever was on my mind. I miss my little blog. It's not fancy and it's not for everyone, but it is full of milestones and hints of the person I used to be. I liked her, and I think she would like this woman I am now. Hopefully within these electronic pages, I'll rediscover some of the beauty I used to know. 

And maybe, just maybe, something new will begin to grow.