Next move.......

      Ruminating on my possible next move has been helpful to me. Joanne got us moving out of the house we occupied in Golden Valley for 31 years. She had been instrumental in selecting the house before we bought it. The split foyer arrangement was not ideal as a house in which to age. She tired of the steps and she was prescient because we moved before the stairs became very difficult for her, as they were the last years of her life. It was her motivation that caused us to sell, downsize and move to the downtown condo I still occupy. The skyway system, the enclosed second story walkway that connects downtown Minneapolis, became very important for her, more that she realized when we first moved here.
       Thinking about what's next has helped me to see the positive aspects of this location. It is always easy for me to take too much for granted and that has been true of my attitude about my life here. In thinking about a future move I've looked carefully at my current situation and have come to realize how good it is.
        This realization leads me to one more reason to be deeply grateful to Joanne and her leadership. Without her initiative we would likely have lingered in our house too long. Little thinking that either of us would die so soon, hospice care for Joanne here worked well. It was very helpful that we could do the downsizing together with the myriad decisions that were necessary.
        Life in the land of grief is also life in the land of gratitude. What a great gift it was to have 55 years of relationship with Joanne. Gratitude for that suffuses my life, even as I live with the presence of absence, in the land of grief.

Takk for alt,

Al

One of my favorite pictures.

Dinner last night at Dehn's.