My Personal Journey In Life

Having just finished the Thanksgiving holiday, is it any wonder that, while we are thankful for everything good in our life, we still reflect on who or what is missing.  Thanksgiving was the big holiday for my mother.  She pulled out all the stops to make it as special as she could, and woe to the person who would dare get in the way of making that happen.  For her it was a very important tradition of gathering family and friends near and far to feast and enjoy each other’s company.  Of course like many traditions in my family, this one also centered around good food.  With this in mind, my daughter this year insisted that we make what “Grandma always made.”  So I tried my best to do that.  And even though I know that I didn’t quite get there, I believe that Mom would still be happy with the effort. We always had turkey for Thanksgiving. We did not just have turkey breast, but the whole turkey.  God forbid that you even mentioned having ham at...

Have you ever woke in the morning really wondering what purpose do I still have for being here?  I know that this is a question that has plagued me since I passed the half century mark.  With my daughter leaving home and starting her own independent life (not totally because a good deal of her "stuff" is still here), I have been really struggling to figure out what to do next. The "empty nest" may have some shouting for joy because now it seems they will have so much more pampering time for themselves, a little more money in their pocket (since the kids are not dipping into it every five minutes), and excitement at exploring all those things they've wanted to do but haven't done in a very long time. But for me, it doesn't seem that simple.  Once I left the ideas I had in high school that I was going to go to a university, get a degree in science something or other, land a job at a research facility that was five years away from curing cancer, and have ...