~UPON THE PASSING OF ONE YEAR'S TIME~

     "A year ago today I left my home of forever, dear Kansas, and headed west for a new life over the big mountain and down into the valley to settle in a place called Montrose, Colorado.  I was newly married, newly retired, a flatlander who would soon become a transplant into the Rocky Mountains of the south western part of the state.  I survived being homesick and lonely, being lost and uncertain.  A year later I can look back and see how very much I grew and I changed.  Today's blog post is a pictorial reflection of where I have been and where I figure I am going to in the days ahead. If the old saying is true, that what does not kill you actually makes you stronger, then I am about as strong as a person can imagine.  I'm in Kansas for these upcoming days as I finish up what is left of life here.  Many people have been worried about me, making the many trips that I have back and forth between here and there.  Thank you for the concern~I know that you have my best interests in mind my dear friends.  I'm ok and sometimes it just takes a while to get life completely figured out.  As much as I love this state and the fine people that live in it, the time has come for me to finish up here and to settle down into the life that God has led me to in a place far, far away from where I sit this morning.  Friends and family, I say to you once again how much I love you and hold you close to my heart.  I have not always understood why things happen as they have, why things end up going in the directions that they do.  But this much I DO know and I rest assured in the that knowledge....  Everything that has happened to me in the past, shall happen to me this day, and that which will follow in the future is just a part of a great plan, one set forth just for me.  In those times when I have a bit of fear, I remember that God is with me.  He knows exactly where I am, anywhere or everywhere I may be.  Really, what would I have to fear?  Absolutely nothing.  Have a great day out there everyone with greetings from south central Kansas, a great place to have lived for over 55 years of life."

A year in the life~a pictorial view of the last 365 days of existence on the great planet Earth~

                      Saying "good-bye" to dear bicycling friends in early May of 2013.

Marrying that young man from the "land of long ago, and far, far away" Mike Renfro.  The last day of school for Lincoln Elementary, May 21st of 2013.

 

Every time I see this photo, I have to smile.  The poor skin of "old lefty" is pretty withered and old looking after my accident.  Mike knew how self conscious I am of the way it appears so as we took this photo, he reached over and pulled the skin back to give my hand a more normal appearance.  We laughed until we cried.

Paying a visit to the place where this whole thing got started, 40 years earlier in the hallways of Haven High School where Mike and I are both alumni.  Who would have thought?  Surely not us.

When I saw this sign on the way home just a year ago today, I began to cry.  It wasn't because I was almost to Montrose.  Rather, it was because I realized just how far away from Kansas I really was.  Homesickness had already arrived but Mike understood.  The thought of taking baby steps to get through the next few months began right here, right then. 

By June, these guys began to make their arrival each day as they paraded through the alfalfa fields around our house just outside of the city limits.  My very first friends :)

We made our very first campfire right outside the house and sat out under the stars to talk about life.  Mike Renfro is a very good listener and I really know how to talk, ALOT.  :)  One of the best things we found out about how to handle the stresses of life was to just sit down and talk about it.  He put up with a lot of tears in the early weeks.  I am thankful that he did.

By July, we began to find ways to get me out of the house and to start learning to enjoy life here.  One of the places we frequented on the week was the local bowling alley.  I never could beat Mike, EVER but it was kind of fun to try.  He's a great bowler.  I am not. 

He could beat me with both arms tied behind his back and one eye closed.  Believe me, no kidding.

To my always "less than 100 pin a game" credit, at LEAST I never had to use the dinosaur helper for the little kids.  I'm kinda proud of that :) The months that would follow were filled with many memories and much less homesickness.  THAT was a good thing.  A REALLY good thing.

We saw the view from the more than 10,500 feet in the air atop the Grand Mesa

And were happy to see Mike's cousins and their friends who had ridden their motorcycles all the way from Great Bend, KS. Total strangers became my best friends that day :)

We paid a somber visit to the traveling Vietnam Veteran's Wall at Baldridge Park

And continually watched the skies around us for the danger of wildfires in the forests of our part of the state.

By August life had begun to change and I received the blessing of becoming a fourth-grade teacher at Olathe Elementary.  I no longer had time to feel homesick.  I was way too busy trying to stay one step ahead of "the 18".  Slowly but surely I began to see the purpose and an even greater view of my part of life's plan.

I still practice random acts of non-violent, civil disobedience whenever I can

And I will never forget from where I once came.

Monarch Pass, you cannot scare me and for all of the times I have worried about crossing you, I really had nothing to fear.

WHAT SHALL THE FUTURE HOLD?  ONLY ONE PERSON KNOWS THAT ANYWAYS, SO WHY WORRY?  I MOVE FORWARD WITH EVEN MORE CONFIDENCE AND FAITH THIS DAY THAT GOD WILL ALWAYS PROVIDE THE WAY.

So from here ................

To there and everywhere in between......

I am alive and well this day and I pray always that the same shall be said for you my dear friends and family.  From the plains of the great state of Kansas, the 34th star of the flag, greetings to you all.