Facebook is the new medium for chain letters. You remember the old chain letters, don’t you? You sent something (a dollar, a recipe, a prayer) to the last person on the list, added your name to the top of the list, and then sent copies of the letter to three other people. These always came with a promise and a threat. If no one broke the chain everyone would reap great rewards, but whoever broke the chain would get untold bad luck. Detailed examples were provided for both. I never played along. I either tried to graciously return the letter to whoever gave it to me or just threw it out as an annoyance. And now, I received the Facebook Gratitude Chain Letter!
Independent Living in a Senior Community
My mom has been living “independently” in Preston Pointe, a small senior community in North Carolina, for eight months …and (to her own surprise) she is loving it. She came here reluctantly with great fear and trepidation, agreeing to stay only three months as an escape from the harsh New York winter. This was quite brave of her: approaching 90, unsteady on her feet, very hard-of-hearing, having never lived anywhere else, and leaving all her friends and some family to do it. I did my research but had no experience with these type of facilities so I had my own set of doubts filled with nursing home nightmares.
Turns out, it was a good choice and worth the effort. We are both very happy with the arrangements and I encourage others to consider this option for their parents.
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Going Back to Go Forward
This was the first time I stepped foot onto the IBM campus since I retired, a place where I had spent more than 8 hours a day, 5 days a week, 48 weeks a year, for 20+ years. I was invited to attend a retirement party for a colleague and friend, which was held on-site in one of the larger conference rooms. In fact, it was the exact conference room where I held my own retirement party last July, and I was going back to help her celebrate.
My friend was retiring voluntarily and very happy about it. I was forced to retire as part of a resource action (or down-sizing, or lay-off, depending on the phrase of the day) and I was making the best of it. Not surprisingly, I had mixed feelings leaving IBM and now I had mixed feelings going back. Wasn’t sure if it would be sour grapes, regret, longing, relief.
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accidental goddess 