TheBanyanTree: Auld Lang Syne

[Anita Coia]

I've been inspired by Margaret's great summary of her decade. Here's my
attempt.

 

In the last 10 years, I've:

 

.         Gained a husband, which is the last thing I expected from my fling
with my co-worker

.         Gained two step-children and an ex-wife, and a whole new set of
challenges and experiences

.         Learned to ski at the relatively late age of 35 to ensure that my
husband and I could go on holiday together. We might get to a beach together
sometime in the next decade.

.         Finally settled back into a permanent work role to better support
my daughter and husband, after 12 or so years of contract work. I'm learning
to love paid sick leave and holiday leave! 

.         Gave birth to a daughter at the age of 41 - 10 years after
deciding that my chances were pretty slim of finding a man who was worth
conceiving with before I left my child-bearing years. And watched many of my
friends have the same wonderful experience in their own lives.

.         Visited amazing (ski) locations in Canada and the US and stood at
elevations that I never dreamed I would see, in temperatures I NEVER thought
I would CHOOSE to be in - and it was worth every minute

.         Found meditation and self-enquiry, and turned my life around from
self-pity and lack of understanding of myself, to understanding and
accepting myself (generally!). Doesn't mean I understand other people
though!  J

.         Moved out of inner-city Melbourne to the 'burbs for the second
time in my life - again for the sake of a serious relationship. Because I
wouldn't choose to do it for any other reason!  Though it IS nice to have
fresh air and large expanses of grass - and that's just in our back and
front yards. 

.         Finally learned how annoying and incomprehensible I must have been
at times as a teenager, thanks to my stepchildren. Nothing like kids to hold
up a mirror.

.         Did the Oxfam Trailwalker (team walk of 100km within 48 hours) -
though the final stage was closed due to bad weather so technically I only
walked 86.5 km

.         Bid farewell to my beloved Nonna, my Italian grandmother. And
became a supporter of the concept of assisted suicide, after watching her
turn into a shell of her former life-embracing, laughing, generous loving
self due to dementia, deafness, and blindness. I regret that she never met
my daughter. They would have loved each other - I think they are alike in
many ways.

.         Learned that "entree" in the US means the main meal, not the
starter as it does down here

.         Discovered that in some places in Colorado, wearing a cowboy hat
is not an ironic statement

.         Watched the second plane fly into the World Trade Centre live on
TV after hearing a late-night radio news bulletin that I thought initially
was a joke...and witnessed the start of the international terrorism age in
the West (had terrorism so comprehensively crossed international borders
before?)

.         Bought a block of land in the Victorian alpine area with my
husband, and started planning our retirement together - what a wonderful
feeling. Who knew that marriage could be this good?  Margaret's posts remind
me to enjoy and give thanks for every precious moment while it lasts.

 

Hopefully the next decade is the one when I write that book that is lurking
around inside me somewhere. Ha ha!

 

xx