Away

 At 55 Eleanor took a job in Florida, 1900 miles from her children. She went to church every Sunday with her daughters, shopped with her sisters, played cards with her nursing school classmates, what will she do for fun so far away. She signed up for golf lessons and hit the links. The class was comprised of 15 children all under the age of 10 and her. She did not hit the ball any further than the kids but she wiped plenty of tears. The kids were teasing each other but they never said of word to Nan. She went to work 40 hours a week as a nurse for a private family but had extra time on her hands and no new friends. She signed up for classes at the community college which were free for people over 50. Just a pen and a note pad, no computer, no cell phone just guts. She never thought she would run into women and men her age, but she was surrounded by them. It turns out that others were just as bored as her.

They started a study group on her night off. Two of her classmates had an electric typewriter and they switched the possession of it. Eleanor never typed a day in her life, all the charts in nursing school in 1942 were handwritten. She managed to get her typing speed up to 12 words per minute, she was the fastest one in the group. The group studied, told stories, shared pictures of their families and had tears rolling down their faces with laughter. In that course of study they do not give grades to the students over 50. It turns out they were morale support to the teacher. She took American History, Psychology, Basket weaving, Comprehensive English, Algebra I, and Bayou Cooking.

New friends, a great job, weekly golf improvement made each week tolerable without her family. They started to travel to see her by plane. Eleanor had never flown in a plane so she waited for the family to come to her. It was magical to hold them in her arms, sit holding their hands during Sunday mass and just have a special time with her family. She learned the lesson - you do not have to be related by blood to be a family. She found a connection by letting herself be open and accepting to new things. Eleanor's mother lived in the same house til she married, then lived in that house until she passed. Her sisters lived in their homes with their husband and children for forty years. The family tradition is stick together, all you need is family.

I have moved 14 times in my life. The first couple of times I cried because I had to leave my friends. The next few times I was a little sad. The rest of the moves were exhilarating because new people and new adventures were beckoning me. When I send Christmas cards every year they go to 28 states and 17 countries. My philosophy about life is: there are 7 billion people in this world and they all have something to teach you. Just listen!

GET OUT THERE!

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