Moving Forward

I’m not one for looking for signs and wonders, but sometimes it’s just interesting how God can use seemingly insignificant things to direct our thoughts. I follow a blog called DC Widow that has been very helpful to me. Her post from March 11 was good, but it was a comment from a reader that got me started on the idea of moving forward. The reader, Steph, said, “Nora McInerny’s TED talk about not moving on but moving forward is spot on…” so, I looked it up and she was right.

At breakfast I picked up the AARP bulletin to scan it while I ate and the cover jumped out at me: “The Path Forward”.

AARP Bulletin

Then, at lunch I did the same with the latest copy of Southern News, from Florida Southern College. Inside was was an article heading “…move forward without forgetting the past.” Wow. It all goes together.

Southern News, Winter, 2021

I am moving forward, well, literally I’m moving south. In two weeks. I closed on my home in Tampa on March 5, then stayed there a week on an air mattress, painting walls and planning. At the end of each day I just drove 1.6 miles to my son’s house where I was fed and loved on. Now I’m finishing up packing and preparing for my third move since last May. It’s been exhausting, not just physically but emotionally. I have to keep stopping myself from the thoughts of “this isn’t how it was supposed to be”. I remind myself, rather, “this isn’t how we planned it.”

Carole King’s song, Anyone At All, comes to mind. I have loved that song ever since I saw “You’ve Got Mail” years ago. It felt like Our Song. It feels like it even more now.

“You’ve become a memory I can’t erase…” “It wasn’t in the plan, not that I could see…” “…that’s what catches me when I fall
I’m so glad it was you”

Old Songs/New Meanings

 

I’ve gone back to listening to some of my old CDs while driving. Listening to Carole King I find memories stirred and songs that seem to have a whole new meaning now. Like “Now and Forever”.

Now and forever
you are a part of me
And the memory cuts like a knife

 

Now and forever
I’ll remember all the promises still unbroken

‘Til death do us part is one promise that is still unbroken. We kept that promise.

And think about all the words between us
That never needed to be spoken

I’ve thought about those last days and how we often sat not saying a word. Sometimes I’ve longed for memories of some long, final conversation. But then I realize there was no need. Talking was what drew us together – we could sit and talk for hours when we were dating. Years later we would sometimes find ourselves lying in bed in the wee hours of the morning having long serious discussions. Sometimes he would just talk and I’d drift off to sleep. And he never minded that I did.

We are the lucky ones
Some people never get to do
All we got to do

On the roof, in the treetops, or down by the ocean

“Up on the Roof” is a song written by Gerry Goffin and Carole King and recorded in 1962 by The Drifters. I first heard this song when it was sung by Carole King and I just love it.

You can read all the lyrics here: www.oldielyrics.com/lyrics/the_drifters/up_on_the_roof.html , but basically it talks about going up on the roof to get away from things when you are feeling down. Now, I don’t have the kind of roof to climb up on, but there are other places to get away from the crowd.

When I was a very young teen I would sit out on our little front porch with my dog and cry into her fur. She was a good listener. As an adult I would often leave the house at night to go for a walk, taking yet another dog with me for protection and company.

The beach is another place I can go to gain some perspective. Like being up on the roof, except I’m on the sand by the ocean’s roar.

Some of the lyrics of the song say:

“On the roof, it’s peaceful as can be
And there the world below can’t bother me”

Do you have a roof, or tree, or beach, or other place where you can shake off the cares of the world for a few minutes? I hope you do.