Comments on: Distance

By: christie

christie — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 01:59:16 +0000

Merrick, thank you. I never can predict where the help I need will come from, and I am always surprised. Thank you so much for your comment and for giving me the opportunity to give back a little for all the great help I have received.

By: Merrick

Merrick — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 17:03:02 +0000

I, too, live a thousand miles from my friends and former life. The distance has been crushing. This gives me new perspective and guidance on how to melt the miles when I cannot be there and they here. Thank you for your beautiful insights and inspiration. Funny how a post can have such an impact, no?

By: Christie

Christie — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 14:32:33 +0000

Wow, what wonderful responses and stories… and some lovely thoughts for me to ponder. Thank you to everyone who shared.

And to ByJane: If you were in London in the late Sixties, I am sure we ran across one another looking like extras from an Austin Powers movie.

And to fellow-traveller Lisa Gioia-Acres: You have the best name I have heard in a long time.

By: Lisa Gioia-Acres

Lisa Gioia-Acres — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 03:02:31 +0000

My license plate frame reads: “Not All Those Who Wander Are Lost.” That saying, along with “I don’t know where I’m going but I’m on my way” has and is the story of my life.

Wonderful blog. I’m looking forward to reading more.

By: ByJane

ByJane — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 18:52:28 +0000

I moved to London in the late ’60s too. Don’t suppose we knew each other….

By: Barb G.

Barb G. — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 17:32:35 +0000

Beautiful thoughts about distance. I’ve been thinking about it just a little differently- how sometimes you need distance to grow. My niece was supposed to be married May 28th but at the last minute the groom called it off. Shock and horror from the parents on both sides. I, for one, was thrilled because she is only 20, has lived a very sheltered life and was no where near ready to tie herself to married life. Did I mention her family is a very conservative, god-fearing clan? Early marriage and kids are part of “the” plan. Oops!

Since she’s in Michigan and I’m in Southern Utah we keep in contact via Facebook. Oddly, she never seemed that heart-broken. Embarassed, disappointed but not devastated. Soon, she was asking about jobs at national parks; said she needed to do something different, get out of Michigan. Within days, my sister calls, in tears, saying my neice has a job at Bryce National Park starting in 4 days. The kid and I make plans to pick her up in Las Vegas and ferry her to Bryce. Wahoo!

She’s been at Bryce for a week, loves her new life, loves her room-mates and is making new friends. She’s over-flowing with joy, grabbing life with both hands and making plans to move to the ocean when this job ends in November.

Distance is what she needed. Space to grow, to learn who she is and what she is; to become an independent woman, capable of eventually making big life decisions about love and marriage.

By: Vegas Linda Lou

Vegas Linda Lou — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 01:22:35 +0000

Beautiful post, and so timely for me. When I came to Las Vegas six years ago after a mid-life divorce, I knew not a soul. Sometimes I felt like I was thousands of miles away from anyone who loved me, and I was. I used to say I was so miserable even Jesus would cross the street if he’d seen me coming.

But sometimes we have to be away from the people who know us to discover who we really are. From this solitude, I became a writer and challenged myself to try stand-up comedy. I came to realize I could never live back east again, even though I missed my kids and grandson tremendously.

Last week my aunt died; I knew the end was imminent and I wouldn’t be able to get back in time to say good-bye. I did go back for the funeral (see today’s post), and it was wonderful to be with my family. Now I’m back in Vegas, back to my “real life,” but my loved ones are never far away. They are always in my heart–those whose lives continue to unfold on this earth, and those who are raising hell in heaven.