Some people are curious why I focus on the word “thrive” with such intensity. So I decided to write a sort of “manifesto” to capture the essence of what thriving means to me and how I see it playing out as the theme of this website. While thriving might be equated with success, there is…
Continue reading →When I celebrated my 60th birthday in early 2020 with friends, we laughingly raised our glasses and toasted each other with the encouraging words, “Here’s to the best year yet”. You’re probably saying, “Well, that one hasn’t aged well, has it?” You’d point to the coronavirus and the havoc it has played in our lives…
Continue reading →If you are looking for some positive changes in your life, welcome to the Thrive Beyond 55 club! Thriving is about getting out on the playing field with the intent to live a bigger and more satisfying life. It means aligning our intentions with our choices, and then taking a step. Physics tells us a…
Continue reading →When I sold my home lightning-fast eighteen months after my husband had died, I faced downsizing by about 80 percent. Part One of my move was daunting because I anticipated little help — my besties had moved to Calgary, and my daughter and son-in- law were living in Penticton. However at seventy-two, I thought I…
Continue reading →Are there destinations that tempt you? Does travelling without your partner intimidate you? I encourage you to consider travel to normalize your annual routine, and this post will give you a few insights. Before my husband died much too young, I had traveled independently for work and also with him, so the prospect of continuing…
Continue reading →Everyone tells a newly bereaved spouse not to make major decisions for a year. I understood this when I lost James, my husband, but I made many. I had to. One was not to sell my home in the community I loved. We had renovated the four bedroom townhouse from top to bottom and finished…
Continue reading →Now that it’s been nearly two years since my husband died suddenly, I can look back on the challenges I faced learning to live alone — permanently. I’d got used to my husband being away on business seventy percent of the time and enjoyed my solo time. But he always came home. Now he never…
Continue reading →If you’ve been reading my previous six posts about the death of my husband at sixty-eight years-old, you may have received the impression that I filled my days with frantic activity to defer the moment when I had to confront the loss. That wasn’t the case at all. After the first three weeks, which were…
Continue reading →Some individuals arrange and keep their affairs in order; others avoid it diligently. My late husband was one of the latter. I did force him to prepare a will and a Power of Attorney eight years before he died. He refused to discuss anything else to do with his possible death, and I had no…
Continue reading →When my husband James died, I’d done a good chunk of mourning already. He’d suffered from serious cardio-vascular disease for over a decade, had surgery, and then struggled with declining health and mental function. These last two years were difficult with a grumpy spouse, no travel, and no fun. I went through the angry stage…
Continue reading →After lunch I dressed carefully in a royal blue outfit that my husband, James, had liked. No mascara, check. Tissues in my purse, check. Was I ready for this farewell? Emphatically, no! I wanted to run away to avoid meeting the crowd of friends from around the world that had gathered to attend his memorial…
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