Though I’m thankful and am counting my blessings, 2024 has been quite a year. Robert and I have woken up to a new reality. We’ve been such an active couple our entire lives together, through travel and participation in a variety of sports, but now in our sunset years, we’re both struggling with various aches and pains. It’s to be expected at our age, but it doesn’t make it any easier.
Still, I’m pleased we’re both healthy otherwise. Now that our bodies are not as cooperative, we’re turning our thoughts to new experiences.
Robert’s New Hobby
Robert’s taken up whittling and is loving it. He’s creating all these darling figures, one of which I placed in a sweet fairlyland setting in Beaver Lodge Lands, a forest close to our home. Robert took up sculpting in early retirement (to see scroll down the Art page), and then followed that up with carving. And now, he whittles away to his heart’s content.
My Book Cover Reveal
I’ve been immersed in getting my new book out. Along Came a Gardener, my first non-fiction book, will be launched March 15th, 2025 online and at Mulberry Bush Bookstore in Qualicum Beach on Vancouver Island, where I’ll do some book signings. I’ll likely have a few more stops on the island and will be posting that soon. And our grandson, Michael Stevantoni, designed the cover. I love the little flowers on the back. It’s always the little things that grab my attention.
I was supposed to launch this book in November but I’m so glad I didn’t rush the launch. Five beta readers (three of them therapists) read my manuscript and passed on their comments. I’ve also added another chapter: “Establishing a Personal Boundary”. This part memoir and part self-help book has tips to manage the emotional roller coaster of life.
Writing this book gave me a chance to revisit my years as a psychotherapist. While counting my blessings, I realize the years I spent helping so many different people get on track was a gift. It was a gift to me. Those years helped me gain the understanding that we’re all in this together. We may not have the same problems or experience the same joys, but we’re all human, vulnerable, and in need of loving from others. Some of us get a raw deal in life. Others seem to sail free, but on closer inspection, they also suffer.
Now that this manuscript is finished, I’m anxious to get to other writings, like a collection of short stories and a new novel.
What’s It All About?
What’s also on my mind are the wars overseas: Ukraine, Middle East, and Syria. Though I understand much, I don’t understand wars. They’ve been going on for centuries. You’d think we’d learn to get along, to respect one another, to accept differences and know that we all want the same thing. Security—a roof over our heads, food in our bellies, clean water and clean air—and Love.
Most of us strive to do the right thing: be good citizens, loving partners, caring family members. But there seems to be a good number of people who can’t seem to get enough, whether it’s land, money, or power. It all amounts to greed. It’s hard to understand that kind of selfish drive when the most pleasurable things in life are free.
Give me rain, a rainbow, the sun coming up at dawn, a full moon, the stars, the sight of birds flying freely through the air, a bud bursting into flower, a parade of ants, a deer in our yard searching for food and a quiet place to escape predators, a new snowfall, the wind pushing the sea into higher and higher waves, a hummingbird at our feeder, a walk in the forest, a child’s laughter, an old man’s smile, a handshake, a hug, the taste of home baking or a home-cooked meal, the smell of a freshly brewed pot of coffee, time with friends and family, and a shared joke.
Staying in Touch
If you want to know about my latest projects, what I read, and more, subscribe to my newsleter, Hearts and Pages on Substack. Like you to join that party. 🙂
Happy Holidays
Wishing you a Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Happy Holidays and all the best for 2025! Sing, laugh, love, and dance. Praying for hope and peace!
