Well, here we are again. I started blogging back around 2005 and this is my third or fourth “re-birth” of my blog. In this instance, all the old posts are gone and I’m 100% beginning again.
When people ask me where is “home” it’s usually wherever I am but always (in my mind) somewhere in the Southwest — currently, Placitas, New Mexico. It’s a tiny, rural (bedroom community) village about 15 miles north of Albuquerque.
I moved here after 11 years in the Denver area to help care for my aging father who was moved from Lake Placid Florida after his heart attack/bypass in 7/2017 and my mom’s death in 8/2017. Dad never really bounced back after his heart attack and quad-bypass and the slow decline lasted 3 years and 4 months almost to the day. He is no longer sad and lost. He left this world 11/2020.
I called myself “semi-retired” while I cared for my dad, but as his decline escalated I reached out to a former business owner with whom I had worked prior to leaving Denver and two phone calls later I have a great opportunity driving strategy for one of the leading web-to-print and MIS software companies in North America.
My grown up kids (and an amazing daughter-in-law) – My son (and daughter-in-law) transitioned from Brooklyn NY during the pandemic and have since built their first home in Aurora CO and are expecting my first grandchild (a boy) in early October. My daughter recently uprooted from Denver CO after over a decade and planted herself in Raton NM (closer to dad YAY).
In June of 2019, former classmates and I celebrated the 40th anniversary of our high school graduation. At that event, and in the process of preparing for that event, I discovered many of my classmates were going through the same transition and challenge of caring for our adult parents that I was going through at the time. That was a big part of the driving factor for re-birthing my blog… I was able to capture some of the stories and things I learned along the way caring for my aging father in hopes of encouraging and perhaps helping others who, like me, made the transition from the cared-for-child to their parent’s caregiver.
Now, with dad gone and those responsibilities removed I don’t know what I may write about. But life is an exciting adventure so we shall see.
Life has been good to me. Thanks for playing along!