Welcome back to SOLO at SIXTY!
Remember last week’s blog when I told you that my younger daughter jokes with her siblings that “she has mom now, and they get mom later”… we’ve spent so much time together recently that I’m starting to wonder if it was actually a joke! Valentine’s Day morning we met at our Short Pump club before the crack of dawn to take my older daughter’s 6:15 am cycle class. Her music theme – “lots of love with a little Bad Romance” (song by Lady Gaga)! It was a tough class with great music. Afterwards, she surprised us with YETI wine cups! (Does she know us or what?) Can’t wait to use mine!
Valentine’s tradition of dinner and a movie continued with my younger daughter. We chose the theater based on which one has the best hot dogs! Violet Crown on the downtown mall won out and thankfully they were showing the movie we wanted to see – “Isn’t It Romantic” – perfect comedy, not cheesy, very upbeat – and just plain fun!
Monday, my younger daughter was off of work (President’s Day) and met me at our downtown club to take me through one of her lifting workouts. AND, later that afternoon, as it was “National Wine Drinking Day” (no kidding!), we had a mother/daughter wine date with one of her friends and her mother at Glass House Winery. So much time together. So. Much. Fun! But made me think she is serious about “taking mom now!” And you know what? I am thankful for it! Guess my older daughter and my son better get ready for their turn!
“A good life is a collection of happy moments.”
I had originally planned to go to the beach this past weekend, but a work project and the weather delayed my trip. I am dying to get back down there, breathe in that salty air, walk on the beach, have some fresh seafood, and visit with my friends and neighbors! And hopefully go for a run, once my knee is totally healed.
Speaking of my knee – I finally have some good news! Thanks to my physical therapist, I got in with another surgeon immediately, who said, “let’s get you back out there running.” Music to my ears. Bone bruise is healed, and although the torn meniscus will never really heal, I can live with it. He gave me a shot of cortisone in my knee, told me to get new orthotics in my running shoes (I am wearing down 1 side of my knee), work on strengthening my knees and hips, and then I can ease back into running in a couple of weeks. First glimmer of hope since this ordeal started. Somehow, I have truly been patient and given my knee time to heal. I took a lot of small steps and made changes in my life to accommodate my healing – replaced running with cycle classes (some with my daughters!), gave up my body pump classes (no squats or lunges allowed with the knee) but had fun lifting with my daughter, and walked more with friends. It was hard to accept that things might never go back to the way they were before and that I might never run again, but also, a lot of good came out of it. Still, I cannot wait to start running again, and will ease back into it slowly. Healing doesn’t happen overnight, and I will NOT risk injuring myself again. Besides, I have 2 fun races to look forward to – one in March with my younger daughter, and one in April with all of my kids. I am going to be patient and truly take the small steps necessary to get back to where I was before.
“Life is a series of steps. Things are done gradually. Once in awhile there is a giant step, but most of the time we are taking small, seemingly insignificantly small steps on the stairway of life.” Ralph Ransom
Healing is long process, one in which I lost hope for a bit. Thought I might never be able to run again. But I turned that corner with my knee last week and finally began to feel “normal,” more like my old self. Similar to healing a broken heart which is a R-E-A-L-L-Y long process, one where you think it will never heal. Then one day, you wake up and realize BOOM, the heartache is gone and your life is pretty close to normal again. It honestly took almost 3 years to heal. So just as my knee healed, so did my heart (just took a lot longer!). But both required a slow, determined process requiring many small steps.
“It will hurt and then one day it won’t. And until then, I will allow this pain to let me grow.”
I ran into an old friend last weekend who asked how I was doing. That’s when it hit me, I am doing very well thank you! No more heartache. No regrets. And even though there have been some setbacks lately, there is no longer that stab to my heart. That, my friends, is the biggest sign of healing. Divorce is not for the faint of heart y’all! But life does go on, slowly but surely. And slowly but surely you find your way back to yourself. Life will never be what it was before, it will be better. Truly.
“Sometimes your heart needs more time to accept what your mind already knows.”
So, in keeping with taking new steps, I did something this weekend I have not done in a LONG time…I baked! Made homemade, healthy, cinnamon raisin bagels and y’all, they are GOOD! I have to admit, when my family moved here in 1997, I had never had a bagel. Never. I mean, we did not have bagels in the South, we had biscuits! But my neighbor introduced us to Bodo’s Bagels and we were hooked! (If you find yourself in Charlottesville, you MUST visit Bodo’s – best bagels anywhere!) Shared the recipe with my co-workers and will share with you – Bagel Recipe!
“Here’s the good news: You’re one step closer today than you were yesterday.”
So remember to take small steps and be patient to reach your destination, be it healing or reaching a goal. And enjoy the journey along the way, because as we all know, none of us is promised tomorrow.
Best,
Leslie
PS “Noses are red, fingers are blue, I’m tired of winter, how about you?!?!”
SOLO at SIXTY 
Great reminder Leslie. I’m often not patient enough to take things slowly, then I push myself too hard and regret it. I guess that is a lesson learned as we get older. I’m glad to hear that you are getting better and many ways and that you are enjoying your life!
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