I love my job BUT I love him more

I love my job, it never feels like work.  I have been there for four years and counting.
I planned a career there!
I had a lot of respect for the company I work for and value the ethics and integrity of it. I have spent four years of training to move ahead into a full career there and loved every minute of it. Sure, there were days I would be worn out and wonder why, why was I doing it? But I still looked forward to the challenges of a new day. Looked forward to the solutions of the challenges each day brought with it.  Yes, the money is good, but, by far the greatest part was the opportunities it allowed me.
Every day I looked forward to going in!  The people there were part of my extended family. It was there I went when my mom was sick and dying for the comfort of friends. It was there I went when I felt sad or lonely, happy or excited, I shared my life there each and every day.
So this "new me" the happy me, the part of me which no one there has seen before took everyone by surprise. One of my coworkers said one time "it is great to hear you laugh, really laugh" "it is great to see you happy." I did not realize how much they paid attention to my sadness, to my emptiness.  One of my coworkers said to me "we wanted you to be happy! We didn't want you to leave to do so"  There in lies the dilemma!
I can't have it both! Distance is too far, a five and a half hour commute is beyond reason, and the closest store is still a two and a half hour drive.
So! A choice had to be made!
A choice I dreaded like the plague I wanted it both. Why could I not have it all? Who said? Where was it written I had to choose. For about two weeks I struggled with the idea of having to give up my job. What would I do? How do I choose?
One minute I was ready to chuck it all and move, in the very next second I wanted to keep my job.
How to decide? My job has made me what I am now and would I lose that if I stopped working? How would I be able not to go into the only place which made me feel good? How do I give up all the friendships I have formed there? Could I even do that? It felt as if I was giving up such a big part of me. For what? A relationship? Something I was never really good at anyway! Can I, or better yet will I be able to take this chance on love? Even a love so deep it has lasted for thirty eight years?
I soul searched, with his help, without any pressure from him. He would agree to anything I wanted. A love that strong for me is unbelievable. He just wanted me to be happy!
I struggled, would I resent the relationship if I gave up everything? Would I resent him? In the future would I change into a monster because I had given up such a big part of me? Would I resent my career and not enjoy it so much if I gave him up? Would it have the same meaning to me after giving up the love of my life? Was it possible I would leave it anyway in the future and then have neither?
Through the soul searching I did learn a lot about myself.  I realized as much as I loved my job and career I loved him more.  It was at that minute I decided there was not a dilemma at all.
When I sit quiet and ponder my future I see him there, not a job or a career, but HIM! I have learned that when something exciting happens I want to talk to HIM! If I am upset or sad I want to talk to HIM!
As I look forward I can only imagine a life full of this man I have love so deeply, not a job, or even a career. As I picture my life, in my minds eye, I see the things, we, as a team will do. I understand now the love of a lifetime which is not going to be lost this time.  This is our time and nothing is going to take it away from me. I have decided to follow my own advice and follow my heart and soul.
 Bittersweet I call it! I realize in an instant he is way more important to me, and I look to a life filled with him. Following my heart instead of my head is difficult, for the first time in my life I am able to support myself and live on  my own. A life I have longed for. A career which I enjoy! People I respect! and yes I am chucking it all to follow my heart!
Because the bottom line is that I love him much, much more than my job. So there ends up not to be a dilemma at all! There is only one choice in the world for me. Get moving and pack up everything and move on. Move up to the mountain with the man I have loved all my adult life. Make it real and official, and be happier than I have been all my life.
And as always I thank God every waking minute he is back in my life.  I thank God for the strength to do what I must to begin our lives together. I also look forward to a future filled with love and compassion! To a home filled with all the happiness we have to be together, without the need for anything else but each other!

The Visists

Now, some days after that first visit, yes first of three, all in two weeks. I still had to come home to work.
Sounds funny driving almost six hours each way and talking about visits like he was around the corner.
Oh how I wish!
The first visit was magical! We caught up on things. Spent many hours awake, afraid to sleep, did not want to waste time. Time, so precious now since I was required to go back to the real world.. Some how during those five days I knew he was to become my 'real world' now!
My life was to change in ways I would never had expected!
We talked about me trying to get a transfer closer. I did think I could get closer than three hundred miles away. I could rent an apartment, I was already planning to move anyway, what did it matter where. Now that he was back in my life I knew the direction I wanted to go. No, I did not want to move in with him, I had vowed some years earlier I would never live with a man again, I just wanted to be closer. Maybe to see each other more than every few months. That was the reality of the situation.
Yes, He was and is the love of my life! Yes, he was, and still is my best friend, and he is who I want to share the silly things with, the really big things and the everyday things . But in the same house? Under the same roof? That, I was not sure of. Scared, petrified and excited would be the emotions I felt!
We just needed to figure out the logistics of the situation. I knew we would. I also knew I was not letting this slip out of my life again. I had made that mistake twice before and would not allow it again.... Older and wiser now, I knew I loved him beyond belief and now knew he felt the same.
Sitting on the porch over morning coffee we would stop talking and just look at each other, then reach out and touch. Just to know it was real. The intensity of the feelings were hard to imagine, even harder to believe. I know I was having a difficult time understanding where they were coming from. So much time had past! But as we sat there it was if our hearts had been connected for all that time!
Leaving there that time was, oh, so difficult.
Not knowing when I would see him again, not wanting for the "heaven" of us to be over I stalled for as long as I could.
Then the time came! Time to leave!  I could put it off for no longer.
Pulling out of that driveway it felt as if I left my heart and soul there. The tears came! They were falling onto my lap before I was even to the end. Looking out the window and back at the house I saw him waving and knew in that minute both of our hearts were breaking. It felt as if something was being ripped from my core. Grabbed away from me again...
I knew then that what he asked me with tears in his eyes, on that beautiful porch, on the side of that mountain, was no lie. No one ever looked at me with such love in their eyes! Just as I was! He loved me! Me! The same way I loved him, just because he was him! Not because of what I wanted him to be but because of who he was!
I loved him just because he was alive! Basic and simple as that was. He was ALIVE!!
We needed to be together for all time and I was to start the process of moving there. It was his idea! Not mine! For I never wanted to live with anyone again! I stayed away from any type of relationship, that was a bad word for me I was no good at them!
Before I was even home I was thinking about how long before I would be able to go back up. I knew I needed to go back there and see him, I knew he wanted me to come back. I could see it in his eyes as I left.
I stopped at work and looked at the schedule and with a little switching I found out I could drive there for two days the following week. I text him and the surprise and the happiness in his message said it all.
The plans were in motion. Our hearts and soul were ruling us this time! We had no option, we had to be. The chance now, to do what we should have done so many years ago was back, fate had stepped in and gave us a third chance at this love we felt.  We were older and knew our time was limited just by age. We had to be together.
That second visit was more planning and thinking. We only had two and a half days that time and needed to have many serious discussions. Sure there was the fun! This was the real test! We were able to still laugh and have fun while deciding how to move forward together.
We so looked forward to the future. I as I have never done before. Always living in the moment I very rarely made plans for the future. My thinking was and still is, things could be gone in an instant! I found myself looking forward to the future with him. I found myself planning for the future!  I had to leave and get back to work. As difficult as that was I knew we were to be forever bound. I left that time with more confidence we would not stray apart as we had so many years ago. I left there feeling very, very loved!  I knew we were forever bound! And that the future with this man I had loved for my entire adult life was coming true. He was and is, and will always be the love of my life! I wanted more that anything to make him happy, to make us happy...
The third visit..............
I left on Saturday morning to be to work at one o'clock, so I had to leave early in the morning for the five and half drive home. There were no plans to go there for a few weeks. I had to work all day Sunday and was to get done at eight p.m. Through the day we text back and forth a lot.  We had so much to 'say' to each other. Sometime through the day I started to toy with the idea of driving back up after work and then dismissed it. Silly! I had just left a little over twenty four hours ago. I also knew I needed to be there again. I needed to see him as I had never needed anyone ever! It was ridiculous! I knew that.
I started to toy with the times in my head and leaving after work would put me there at around four am. Silly since I had to leave by noon on Tuesday to be to work on Wednesday. Give us a little over a day to be together again.
I made the decision to go and called to say at eight thirty I would be on the road there. Of course he was concerned, the worst part of the drive my phone did not work, no service. This being the most dangerous part of the ride, all back roads, very dark and no cell service. But I did it! I had no option I had to be there with him.
How can I ever explain the necessity of seeing him? I could not explain it to myself. This time I did not tell a soul, it was a secret get away just for us. I relished the idea of going there, I was oh so excited to be able to see him again. I called from the last point I had service and he said he would be awake. I told him to take a nap and I would be there as safely and quickly as I could. Sure I was tired, sure I was a little scared, but the idea of being in the same house again with him by my side was the momentum which kept me awake and driving.
That day and half was heaven! We used the time to be together as if it was an extra present on a holiday.
We revealed how much we enjoyed to be together, and on that visit we both knew we needed to be under the same roof! We needed to spend the rest of our time together! Silly as it sounds at our age. I knew I would  not be able to not be with him. I also knew I would move heaven and earth to wake up next to him every day for the rest of our lives. I knew I wanted to go to sleep next to him every night for the rest of our lives.
I had waited thirty eight years for this kind of love to come back to me and I was not allowing it to go away.
There is nothing like getting a third chance at this kind of love and connection. It was that third visit where I understood the love we had had for each other all those years we had been apart, when we had married different people and had lived full lives.
I now knew what had been missing from mine for oh so many years. This visit only proved to reenforce the things we felt.
The plans were set in motion with excited anticipation.  The time of being apart was soon to be over and we would be starting this part of the journey together for the rest of our lives.
Not time, or space or anything would be able to separate us now as they had for so many years.
We were older and knew the value of time! We also had the appreciation for the connection we had to each other. We learned in that very first hug after so many years we had been bound together for ever and now our silly heads had caught up to our hearts and we made the plans.
Leaving that day was harder than the first for now we knew how it would be! We knew the joy of being together all the time. We understood the true meaning of soul mates. The emptiness in our hearts was gone and had been replaced with love and gratitude to God for giving us this third chance and we decided then and there it was not going to drift away again.  Yes some said it was fast but to us it had taken thirty five years to get to this point and we did not want to allow one more day to be taken from us so the wheels were set in motion and we were off to start our new lives together.
Yeah! My heart cried! and my soul rejoiced at the reality of him!
Again I thanked God for this very special gift and vowed to not throw it away. How many get a chance to have this kind of love? A love so binding that time and years could not and did not take away from us.
A love so special which so few have and even fewer appreciate it when they do.

The most unlikely of places--Facebook!

The most unlikely of places--Facebook!
I finally against all odds and totally uncharacteristically of me I 'messaged' this old friend from high school. We went back and forth and it was not long before the subject of this person who I had thought of  for all those years came up. She informed me he was alive and living far away from here.
I tried to remain calm and look for the right words as to not give away too much.  I did not want to appear to eager for fear he was married or in a committed relationship.
My heart did cartwheels!
Just the mere thought he was alive and the shooting did not kill him as I had heard so many years before made my soul rejoice.
Of course I had to 'play' it cool!  Not seem to excited, I asked how he was and was told he had, yes, been shot and wounded, but had recovered and was living alone. My soul rejoiced and felt this really weird feeling of elation. He sent his phone number for me to call him.  I messaged back with my number and said he could call me. Part of me wanted to know if he really wanted to talk to me and if there was still a spark on his end. I was actually afraid to call him.
I went through a barrage of emotions! Could we actually see each other again?  Could we pick up where we had left off so many years ago? Would we still have the same connection? Did we still have that comfort of time gone past?
I had already Googled his number and knew where he lived so when the phone rang and I saw the caller ID I knew it was him.
Fear, excitement, panic set in.
I was afraid to answer the phone, afraid not to answer.
I answered finally which took every fiber of my being to sound unaffected by the call.
The first few seconds were awkward, but only the first few seconds. In actuality after the first hello's were done the magic was still there.  That voice which I remembered from years gone past melted my heart at that minute. Silly as it sounds.
As soon as the first hello's were spoken, as soon as the first words were over, I was so glad I answered and thankful for this opportunity.
My heart skipped one thousands beats and I realized no time had passed.
I did not know how he felt or what he thought, I only knew I was so glad he called and I answered.
We talked for some time rehashing what had gone on the past years when we had gone on with our life, the every day things old friends talk about. The first call was a reintroduction of each other.
Sure we had changed, we were older, more reserved and definitely more cautious.
Sitting listening to his voice I was reminded of all those years ago when we had 'hung out' together and of all the fun we had.
My heart and soul filled with the joy of a teenager! The more we talked the more I realized how I had cared for him all those years ago. Not the mushy, lusty kind of caring, but the deep down comfort of the soul caring.
As we were ready to hang up it was decided I would call the next night when I got home from work.
Thinking after the call I told myself I was being absurd!  All I knew at that minute was I wanted to talk to him more.
We had, oh so many years ago, a great thing! We spent many a night talking and laughing. There had never been an awkward minute between us.
Now, I had to wait until the next night to call. I had to wait a full twenty four hours! Somehow get through work the next day!
Thus the cat and mouse game started.
I knew it was going to resemble a sparring match of sorts.
Neither of us giving away too much information
As I lay in bed that night unable to sleep, thinking back to the times we had spent together I was filled with a sense of longing and knew my life had just changed.  Not knowing how or why, I just knew life was going to be different and that all my ideas of my future had changed.
Silly I knew from the first hello my soul was happy! I knew in my heart I had found my home again.
I feared he did not feel the same way.  I was scared beyond words, however, I also knew it was all going to be OK.
My heart was light and felt like I was teenager all over again. I could hardly believe he was in fact talking to me again. We had never had a bad thing happen between us. We did not argue or bicker we were always just happy to see each other, oh so many years ago.
My mind started to hope against all hope! Could we pick up again? Would we be able to rekindle the relationship we had let slip away so many years ago? Had we been so jaded by life we were both bitter.
For the first time in so long I started to think about letting someone into my heart again. Scared? yes, Excited, yes.
What I did not know after that first phone call was that my life was really going to change and that God had such big plans for me.  God has given us a gift so great. I did not know until later after a few more calls what that first call would or could have done for me, for him, and for the future.
Stay tuned..........

Surprises happen all the time.

Just when I am about to give up and think I am wrong in the things I believe in, a wonderful surprise comes along.  I guess it is about the control thing.  I have to remind myself all the time to give up the control and let things happen.  I have read all the articles about 'going with the flow' and try, really try, but it is not as easy as it sounds.
I know deep in my heart when the time is right what is really best for me will come to me, maybe not how I think or how I imagined it to be, but it will appear. 
I hope I am wide awake enough to realize it, and not so lost in what I think I want where I miss it!
I hope I am fearless enough to grab at it, and follow it, with out any conditions. 
I hope I am able to catch the wing and fly off to the calling of my soul.
I did receive a couple surprises this past Sunday that there are people watching over me.
The first was when I was thinking about my mom and how a few days before she passed I came up with the idea of her sending me peacock feathers, just because they are so rare and at the time there wasn't much out there with them on. Now since she crossed over they have seemed to become very popular and are everywhere. Back to Sunday I was at work thinking how great it wold be if a peacock feather came to me and let me know I was on the right track with my plans. Odd as this sounds, a customer brought me a large picture of a peacock with very long tail feathers. I know the skeptics will all say that it was a coincidence, but if you know me I know there are no coincidences in this world! Never! Everything has a reason, and not all things are a message, but some times there is a very important message in them. We need to be able to decipher those messages.
The second thing, or sign if you will, we were experiencing a simple summer shower and I thought it was going to produce a rainbow, it did not and I looked. Later I was walking out front to check out the cart situation and low and behold there was a rainbow, unexpected.  As I stood there it became brighter and brighter, almost causing a double. How exciting that was since I had just asked for it.
I wonder if they both were signs from my parents that everything is going to be ok and they are watching over me every day and when possible and for my own good they give me what I want still from the other side?
Guess I will have to wait for those answers until I get there with them.
please visit my eBay  http://myworld.ebay.com/spovio  and Etsy https://www.etsy.com/shop/Suestreasures2012  sites and don't forget all are for sale.

5 top reasons to move to Alaska

Here are my top five reasons I want to move to Alaska
First and foremost I think it is on of the most beautiful places with the snow and open wilderness.
I love waking up to snow outside. Sounds odd coming from someone who is always cold. Which leads me to the second reason.
It is always cold. I am always cold anyway might as well be able to wear heavy clothes and not look goofy....   Here comes the third reason
Sleeveless blouses or shirts are almost non-existent. Which is a great thing since the older I get the jigglier my arms get and I will not wear sleeveless things anymore.
Shoes are actually for the most part boots.. I love boots, any boots.
Wild life, I have always wanted to see big animals, even if they want to eat me... they have to eat also. I do not have much actual meat on my bones, more like a really fatty burger.
So now I ask for help to the Alaska fund by visiting my eBay  http://myworld.ebay.com/spovio site and my Etsy https://www.etsy.com/shop/Suestreasures2012?ref=si_shop site and support the cause.
All items are shipped the next business day. and for the household items I need to sell them to be able to move and get on to the next step of the journey.

Starting with a dream

Starting with a dream of moving to Alaska. 
I have to remind myself daily, sometimes hourly, the dream is the beginning.  The hows are not for me to worry about.  The dream is the most important, and everyday I have to take one step toward it.
Today I looked around and realized I do not need anything here but my cats.  And if I could sleep on a sofa bed for ten years I can sleep anywhere.
Where I want to go in Alaska is far up way past the Arctic Circle, to the coldest part of the country.  I am not sure how I will get there but I do know I will get there!  A couple of the things I think about are food, shelter, and water.  Back to Maslow's hierarchy of needs.
I do know I do not need much, and for the most part I do not eat meat so guess what guys, I will not have to shoot any animals, I hope.  I will have to learn how to eat more fish though....
There are so many things to look forward to. 
Looking out and seeing nothing but mountains. Watching the animals coming past.
I have no wilderness training or even survival training but I do believe our natural instincts allow those traits to come out when needed.
Why? Why would I want to give up all of civilization to trek into the wilderness?  I am not sure however, I do know this is not working in my heart. I know the idea of moving there has put an excitement into me which has not been there since I was getting ready to move to the Florida Keys.  A kind of wanderlust which rests in my soul.  This is the first time I am on my own, totally on my own, no relationship to tie me down and I am free to follow my heart and soul.  Where that will lead me I am not sure but the excitement I feel is beyond anything I have ever felt in any other time.
I have learned when there is another person involved all kinds of feelings are hurt along the way and it ends up destroying the relationship.  Maybe if I find another soul with the wanderlust and sense of adventure I have it could work, but for the now it feels great to follow my dreams. Which one of them is moving to the Alaska Arctic Circle.
Follow my trek and planning in future blogs.
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and Etsy https://www.etsy.com/shop/Suestreasures2012 sites.