The Best Is Yet To Come...

 My Letter Of Intent...

I intend to Fly Away!

...BUT if that doesn't happen the way I've intended, the following are my wishes.

I want to be Cremated and then... Put my ashes in "Sheilagh's Garden"...

Sprinkled over 20 Minute Overlook... Down Duke Of Gloucester Street...

I DON'T want a funeral

I DON'T want a viewing

I DON'T want a celebration of life service 

I DON'T want you to grieve, 

I WANT you to LIVE

I WANT you to have a picnic with all of our kids and our grand kids and anyone else who wants to be there, just like our surprise picnic in May of 2022. 

Make memories,

Eat food, 

Take pictures,

Have a campfire,

Play volleyball

Reminisce, 

Make jokes,

PLANT A TREE,

Live, Laugh, Love, Forgive, Hug, Pray and don't ever, ever, ever drift apart from each other...

My greatest joy is when everyone is enjoying being together...

This is how I want you to celebrate my life.  

This is what I want...

I'll be watching  👀❤ 

Exit Plan! The Adventure Begins...

 January came and went before I could blink. Already three birthdays in the books for the new year. Taavi turned 5 years old on the 16th,  Lily was 2 years old on the 27th and Addie turned 4 years old on the 30th. We were not able to be at any of these birthdays in person but our hearts were there with them and we are grateful for face time, Marco Polo and cell phone technology, texting, you tube etc etc etc. Looking forward to moving home this summer and never missing another birthday as long as they are being had...

It's looking like our exit plan is coming to fruition. The apartment is soon going to be vacated and we will be moving in. This will be our last winter in North Carolina. Hope to be settling in to sticks and bricks by the time the new little one we affectionately call #18 arrives in June. We will spend the month of April in Williamsburg, visiting with Courtney, Jon and the kids on their Spring Break from school then heading home to PA to spend our Golden Years as they say. 

I pray we have golden years and not golden months or golden weeks... too many in our circle have begun their golden years only to leave this earth for eternity shortly thereafter. We have plans, We want to make fairy gardens, make memories and spend precious time with Johnny...Tell our kids we love them and how proud we are of them and we want to watch our grandchildren grow up, meet milestones, have heart to hearts and learn to trust God for all that's important to them. 

We have things to do, places to go, people to love... the adventure has begun... 

Catching Up...

 So 2022 was a long arduous year. Our country is going down the tubes fast and furious, I don't remember much except for the two life changing events that will always be part of my memories. My sister went to heaven in March and in May, my kids and grand-kids, family and close friends gathered to make Barry and I feel loved with a family fun day picnic  complete with food, pictures, campfire and love and laughter. It was a great day we will not soon forget, if ever...

Saying goodbye to my sister made me realize my mortality. Until you start saying goodbye to family members and reading about the passing of school classmates you can't fully understand the fact that life is short. I will do my best to prepare, stay close and never end the day or a call without saying I Love You.

We were home in PA from May till October. Spent a copious amount of time with the kids and grands. Babysitting, birthday parties, the annual Pumpkin Patch visit and thrifty shopping OH was there thrifty shopping...

October we began a month in Williamsburg. Dean came to visit for a few days. We had a good few days of touring around the area and trying out some new places to eat. 

November began our final winter south. For 14 years we have been traveling south to escape the worst of the winters in the North East. Beginning January 2023 we will be transitioning into our Exit Plan. We have known for a few years that we would be retiring to sticks and bricks when the time was right. When the apartment at our sons home was vacated we would be moving in. Well one year from our family surprise picnic we will be enjoying our golden years home with our kids and grands. 

Christmas was lonely, I won't lie. We had a nice Christmas and New Year together but lamented not being home with the family. Even if going home was possible it wasn't wise as gas was over $5 a gallon, hotel stay both ways and money spent while home only to stay for 5 or 6 days didn't  make sense. Then Libby ruptured her CCL and we couldn't go home even if we wanted to...

2022 ended with hope for a bright year ahead...

An Upside Down World...

 May is almost over, Memorial Day is officially the beginning of Summer. Not looking forward to the heat and humidity of the season. Also not looking forward to what is to come. We are living in an upside down world for sure. Upside down...girls can be boys and boys can be girls, men can get pregnant and murdering babies in the womb is healthcare...Our leaders are evil, our pastors are deceived, our doctors are controlled and the people are scared into compliance. Gas prices are exorbitant, grocery store shelves are empty, baby formula is scarce... what's right is wrong and what's wrong is right...

WOE UNTO THEM WHO CALL EVIL GOOD AND GOOD EVIL!"  Isaiah 5:20

Mother's Day 2022

 So yesterday was Mother's Day. I pretty much wasted the entire day. It was cold and windy and damp so we opted for left overs instead of going out for Chinese. Then I slept...ALL DAY I napped, wrapped in a blanket on my recliner chair watching the Mother's Day movie marathon and reading Mother's Day posts on facebook. After which we discussed how much money we would save by buying a half gallon of ice cream and a bottle of hot fudge over going to McDonald's or Dairy Queen for a one time hot fudge sundae. We saved the money and the drive to the store broke my melancholy. Talking to, texting with and messaging/video chat with the kids and grands always brings me joy. Looking through pictures of family always makes me cry. I think a lot now, especially after losing Sheilagh, about what will Barry do if I die, what will I do if he dies. I never thought of that after losing a mother or a father, a grandmother or an aunt...Now, every day, I think about our age, and although we are healthy, in our head we still feel 29 or 39 or even 49 in actuality we are 66 and 73 by the years end, we have to accept that we are seniors, silver hairs, elderly, OLD and anything can happen tomorrow or even today. 

Finally Home...

Home has so many meanings. Mostly home is where your heart is. My heart is home in Pennsylvania during the summer months. We are close to our kids and all of our grand kids when we are home in Pennsylvania. We go home to North Carolina during the winter months, avoiding the snow and cold temperatures. I guess we would be called more appropriately Snow Birds, flying south for the winter. We call Virginia home for the month of April and then again the month of October. Williamsburg, VA is most enjoyable in Spring and Fall. Not too hot not too cold and Williamsburg holds so many memories for us as we spent many camping trips there with our kids as they were growing up. 43 years of memories to be relived every Spring and every Fall...We are currently on our last leg home to Pennsylvania for the summer. 

Home can also mean our final destination, Heaven! It's closer than we think. Every day we are one day closer to going to our final home. The older we get the faster the years pass. Today at 65 and 72 we have seen several friends and loved ones pass on to their final Home. It's not easy saying goodbye but we can take comfort in knowing the final goodbye on earth is just the beginning of an eternity at home in Heaven. Making each day count, not wasting a single minute...make memories, seek forgiveness(because we are not perfect) hug often, say "I Love You" daily and always kiss goodnight! 

Until you are Finally Home ❤

One Thing

 Just one thing to remember her by. I only wanted one thing... 😭