Ten Things that Make me Happy: #1

Widowhood isn't easy.  It's sad, it's lonely.  But you have to find the good things in life as you trudge on alone.  Your late spouse would want that, wouldn't s/he?  So I've decided to spend the next ten Mondays writing about things that brighten my life.

Here's the first.  Ever since I was a Brownie in second grade, I've belonged to groups--Girl Scouts (yes, I sold cookies), drama club, sorority, women's organizations  professional organizations and in recent years a group of women transition.  They're not necessarily widows, but they're all moving on with their lives, trying to make the best of the years ahead.  Within that group are interest groups.  One that I belong to is The Word Group.

What does a Word Group do?  Each meeting we discuss a word, what it means, how it affects us, etc.  Our first word was Wisdom--we couldn't come up with a definition that encompassed all our ideas.  The second was Memory, and our most recent was Story.  We talked about the stories we tell ourselves and others, how different people tell different stories of the same event, how stories change over time, whether our personal stories have themes.  It was a fascinating discussion and I think, through it, the six of us bonded as we probed deeper into the meaning of Story.  The next time we meet, our word will be Home.

Both the small group and the larger group inspire me, cheer me, make me think, make me laugh.  May all of you find a group of friends to give you joy.

Stay tuned for #2 next week.  And if you'd like to chime in about things that make you happy, please do so.

Take care,