Your past is a story already written. Your present is being written as you read this blog. Most importantly, your future entails the chapters that are waiting to be written. Empowered by the idea that you can write the rest of your story? We are!
Here is a quick timeline of events:
1994-1996 Lincoln’s mom and my mom both passed away in their 50′s, unexpectedly. We were in our early 30′s with children, a loss that affected the dynamics of our family in many layers.
2003- My twin decided to undergo a massive surgery in which she almost bled to death on the table. Her children were under the age of fifteen at the time. Her recovery was slow, but she recovered fairly well until later….
2004 – My father died of lung cancer after several months of treatments and care. I was now feeling orphaned with both of my parents gone and only 41. Interesting grieving process for me, which I will share in the grieving section- Rewriting your story with HOPE. It is my desire to share the resources that helped me so I can help those of you who are going through the process of loss as well. Nothing energizes me more.
2006- We moved to a home that had been vacant for 8 years and needed extensive remodel. We enjoyed the challenge, however, it was a stretch to be in the thick of raising and launching our teens at this time. I have written more about remodeling, dreams and helpful planning ideas in our REAL-ESTATE buying section.
2007-Our son left for basic training in the U.S. Army, and the birth of our first grandchild. There were many emotions and details tied to both events. This was also the year that we celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary.
2008- The birth of our second grandchild who is a special miracle and our grace in a time of heartache. My twin showed signs of a alcoholism this year, but we had no idea how little time we had left with her. Our son was stationed in Germany.
2009- My twin passed away in the fall of this year. The details are written in Janet’s Story and in Jessica’s Story, which is in the grief section. My son spent a difficult year in Iraq, and came home to get married on his two-week leave. Real Estate was extremely slow, but we had hopes of our second business possibly picking up the slack until the economy got better. However, the economy affected our second business as well, and we lost everything we had invested including our retirement. More details are in “our financial story” section.
2010- Our son came home and gradually re-established his life here in the states as a civilian. Ptsd and nightmares are part of his life, but he is doing exceptionally well with the support of his loving wife and two daughters. Their story is one of restoration and resilience, the struggle of personal growth, committment and facing the odds together.
2011- A year of rebuilding for us. In December Lincoln’s father was in a car wreck. He is 83 and going on 30.. I would add. He is a very special part of our family, being the only grandparent who has not passed on. He stayed with us for three weeks and we were privileged to care for him. He is now miraculously on his own and living his independent lifestyle again. We learned so much about caregiving during that three weeks. What an honor to love someone back to health. His presence in our home was a gift to us. We are still investing our lives in the healing process of our nieces and nephew and on-call for the rest of our family. We were blessed with two more grandchildren this year! Lincoln and I carrying full loads at college and real estate. Life is full and expectations are great for reaching lifetimes dreams and goal setting.
(Rewriting the rest of our story)
We did not know that the timing of this transition to business ownership during economic strains and the learning curve of starting our own business, would lead into a whirlwind of experiences in our personal lives, our family, and rock our marriage like a boat in a raging storm! I wonder how many others can say that their story is similiar to ours? In these days of instability, I would guess there are quite a few.
Now the REWRITE! (80/20 rule- life is 20 percent what happens, but 80% how you respond)
2010- 2012 Real estate sales and managing investment rental properties is what we do, and what we love. We are going back to college for degrees in our favorite subjects, business and relationships (Family and Marital counseling) again, learning about ‘what we love’. Writing in our spare time at our favorite cabin on the river. We are 48 and 49 years old and basically starting over, rebuilding our goals and rewriting our story. We have a new outlook on life. The greatest things in life are NOT THINGS…
In the “Inspired to Hope” section I will offer the inspiration that I draw from daily. I don’t know exactly how our story will end, or the struggles we have ahead of us but I know this, we will do it together and in our unique style!
