Like It or Not

I have never had a blog entry with over 20 photos posted, but there is always a first!  The title of this blog entry, Like It Or Not,  refers to aging!  What I really want to say is this: like it or not, aging happens…..if you are lucky! My sister Jeanie never reached beyond 55 years (that’s three years from now for me!).  My mother never got to know what it was like to reach the ripe age of 80 and beyond, as her sisters have and her mother did.  Rick’s father never got to experience life past 56 years of age!  I think every day is a gift and if you are lucky, you experience longevity.  And if you live a while, aging inevitably happens.

What brought these thoughts on was last week’s visit to Portland, Oregon.  I took the Bolt Bus from Seattle to Portland and met Rick in downtown Portland.  I led a Chakra workshop at my friend Skye’s house for a group of eight yogis.  I was so happy to reconnect with my Portland friends at the workshop.  Later, Rick and I got to spend a lot of time with Rick’s Aunt Diana and her husband, Ron.  Ron was a Benedictine monk at Mt. Angel Abby when he met Diana.  Silly me, I mentioned this fact to my parents at my wedding back in 1993 and, you know how sometimes you regret what you say?  Well, during the whole wedding, they referred to Ron as a priest.  “Dici ca lu parinu s’assetta ca vicinu di nantri.” (Tell the priest to come sit here near us.”)  “Mom, Dad, he’s not a priest!  He was a monk, but now he’s married to Aunt Diana.”  “Na volta parinu, sempre parinu!”  (Once a priest, always a priest.)  Thank God this conversation took place in Sicilian, so no one understood what they were saying!  They absolutely adored Ron and, in yoga terms, wanted to get his darshan!

While in Portland last week, we also met up with Margaret Otake.  She was our boss in Japan.  She and her husband, Yuichi Otake, owned the language school I taught at in Chiba prefecture, where I met Rick.  I was only 26 years old when I first arrived in Japan, half my lifetime ago.   Margaret, bless her heart, says I haven’t changed at all.  Well, the photos will prove her wrong, but it’s ok!  I am healthy and living life as fully as I can!

So I leave you with stories through photos from past and present!  I accept that life happens, we live, we do our best to make a difference and make life meaningful, we age, and one day we say good bye to it all.  But for now..we live!

 

Our trip to Crystal Springs Rhododendron Park near Reed College in Portland was great.  It was 70 degrees out and everything seemed to be in blossom all at once!  We could have stayed all day.

The visit with Margaret brought me to memory lane!  Where does time go?  A quarter century ago….