CATCHING UP

I't's exciting to be back, and I've been busy getting the old home spruced up. My sidebar needed updating, as did the list of blogs I used to follow. Sadly, many friends have moved on without leaving a forwarding address, but I'm looking forward to the new ones I've yet to meet.

Life has taken many unexpected twists and turns in the six years I was gone. My family has celebrated several weddings and graduations, and I've been blessed with three new great-grandchildren. The youngest just turned one, and I've chosen the picture of her birthday cake for this post because of the lovely memory attached to it of her three-year-old sister excitedly proclaiming, "Great-granny is here; great-granny is here," when she saw me at the door.

One of my last posts was about a family of ravens who had built a nest near the top of a water tower across from my balcony. I had been taking pictures of the babies learning how to fly, and as I looked through my photos, the idea of a children's picture book popped into mind. Though I'd never dreamed of some day writing picture books, that's exactly what happened. My first book, The Water Tower Ravens launched me into an exciting new career as a writer for children.

My next book, Leafster, was inspired by pictures I had taken of my great-grandson and a katydid at a family get-together at the pool. Again, the pictures came first, with no thought of turning them into a book until I looked through them and saw a story.

Leafster was soon followed by Along the Trail, an interactive book I wrote for a friend's birthday. Unlike the other two, this one was planned, and filled with pictures of creatures we encountered while out walking on one of our favorite trails.

Then on New Year's Eve of 2017, life took an unexpected turn in a different direction, as I found myself in the Emergency Room, hooked up to a ventilator, and suffering from acute congestive heart failure and double pneumonia. There were some doubts as to whether or not I would be able to pull through, but my church family prayed and fasted for me, and their prayers were answered. I did survive, and after almost a month in the hospital, and three weeks in a rehab re-learning how to walk, talk, and do all the simple things I used to take for granted, I was able to come home. My book, Oil of Myrrh, is a testimony of how the Lord worked in my life during this challenging time.

Three months later, in May of 2018, I opted to have open heart surgery to replace my severely regurgitating mitral valve that doctors were unable to successfully repair during my January hospital stay.

So there you have it. That's my story. At the moment I am doing well, and feeling very grateful for all my blessings. There's another picture book in the works too. Who would have thought?