It’s finally September! My favorite time of the year
is fall, despite the fact that soon cold weather will descend and with it snow
and ice and… Well, you get the picture. I’d much rather enjoy warm sunny days
that cool off at night.
I’d rather enjoy colorful leaves and fall flowers and
harvesting vegetables and picking apples.
And, my birthday is in the fall, reminding me what one
year older can bring. I remember teen years when I couldn’t wait to go away to
college, not realizing how fast time flies, the older you get.
I remember summers, when
I juggled several jobs while raising kids. I couldn’t wait for autumn
to arrive so the kids, now old enough, would be back in school all day, so I wasn’t running from job to nursery school to
pick up kids, dropping them at the sitter and back to job number two.
Now, I look back and realize how much I missed as my
children grew up way too fast. But now I have grandchildren who are doing the
same. One is looking at colleges. The other two sophomores in high school. All
busy falling into young love, working hard at studies, and excelling at various
sports teams. Of course, they are excelling. They are MY grandsons.
Oldest Grandson - now 17 - My Dad's 90th Birthday - 2009
It seems like yesterday, they were lying on the floor,
playing with tiny cars and making zoom, zoom, zoom sounds, learning to count to
one-hundred, and excited when they got to nibble on favorite
snacks—my youngest grandson loving chunks of cucumber and olives with the holes
where the pits were. He would put an olive on each fingertip and methodically
eat each olive, one by one. Or the special events like coloring
Easter eggs at Grammy’s table. Now they are self-sufficient.
To me, those memories of my own days in high school
and college seem so far away, yet just like yesterday.
So, what do I look forward to as I age?
Top of the list? Not feeling as though I am aging.
Also…keeping busy, communicating with others, not isolating, learning new
things.
This is where writing comes in, as I can accomplish
all of the above through writing.
Learning and Hanging with Writer Friends Through Zoom
I belong to four virtual writing groups in Maine,
Rhode Island, New England, and New Jersey. Each group of romance writers meets
monthly. It used to be in person. Now it is through ZOOM. The cons, I miss
seeing my writer friends in person, but there are times in a year, when we meet
up at writing conferences. The pros are without ZOOM, I would only see my
writer friends once a year at the aforementioned conferences. Now, I see them
and hear their voices and have actual conversations monthly. Sure, we don’t
get to hug each other or gather around a table and enjoy a cocktail and
chatter. There is nothing that compares to face-to-face.
A few years ago, after retiring, I joined a local
organization that has programming for both teens and those of us over 55. The
organization has a group named Write on Writers. We have anywhere from fifteen
to twenty-five who attend weekly. Each of us writes a 5-minute or less piece,
whether fiction, non-fiction, or verse of some sort. We then read aloud our
work at each session. And we can submit our work to appear in the monthly
organization newsletter that gets distributed around town.
The fun of this group is that I get to try different
types of writing, than my normal romance novel writing. And every now and then,
I will write a 5-minute romance story and submit for publication
. But I can also read
those at my local group. And now, I have over sixty 5-minute romances I have
written since 2010. Those I am editing and expanding to collect into a short
romance anthology...SOMEDAY!
So, what do I look forward to as I age. Meeting weekly
with my writing group. Continuing to write both short stories and longer works
to release as books, hanging with my grandchildren and trying to figure out a
way to stop their growth and aging so I can keep them close forever.
Okay – if anyone has ideas on how to do just that, let
me know. Because, if they don’t age, neither will I!
Oh, as you can see, in spite
of the slowing down and the need to nap I’m also trying to figure out
how I can live forever, because right now, I’m having a ton of fun with this
aging business.
No matter our age, we all continue to age on a daily basis. What words of wisdom can you impart when you think about what you have learned over a lifetime?
Amazon (also in print)
https://www.amazon.com/Love-Left-Behind-Hartford-Estate-ebook/dp/B08L5N5DS9/
Books2Read books2read.com/u/mglVqK
~ cottages to cabins ~ keep the home fires
burning ~
Author of the Starlight Grille series, Serenity Harbor Maine novellas, and the Cowboys of Mineral Springs series, Lowe has also authored short romances for Woman’s World magazine (most recently, an Easter romance in the April 1, 2024 edition.) The Love Left Behind is a Hartford Estates, R.I. wedding novella with Book 2 on the way. A Christmas novel (The Inn at Gooseneck Lane) and novella (Holiday Hitchhiker – the youngest brother of the Mineral Spring’s ranching family) were the most recent releases. Look for book 3 of the cowboy’s series, as well as book 2 of the Hartford Estates series, to be released in late 2024 or early 2025.
Social Media Links:
Author website: www.delsoralowe.com
Facebook Author page: https://www.facebook.com/delsoraloweauthor/community/
Amazon Author page: https://www.amazon.com/Delsora-Lowe/e/B01M61OM39/ref=ntt_dp_epwbk_0
Books2Read Author page: https://www.books2read.com/ap/8GWm98/Delsora-Lowe
BookBub Author Page: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/delsora-lowe-93c6987f-129d-483d-9f5a-abe603876518
Goodreads Author Page: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/16045986.Delsora_Lowe
Instagram:
#delsoralowe / https://www.instagram.com/delsoralowe/
Photo Credits:
Delsora Lowe
11 comments:
I love that you have so many social outlets. I do miss going to conferences and seeing writer friends in person. You are definitely aging gracefully!
Great post. We all could benefit from your model of doing it well and with joy.
Barb, I am certainly trying to age well. Mostly in my head and young at heart!
Dari - thanks - I do try to keep a good attitude and smile. Sometimes it is not easy. But I am so lucky to get to "converse" with friends through social media and on-line groups. It helps to keep up a good spirit, for sure.
Deb,
I so agree with your points in this post. Time flies, and who knew at 18 or even 30 that it would. I believe grandkids keep us young. Enjoying them is a benefit of being older. Now two of my married grandkids, one has a sweet little 9 mongh old and the other is expecting in December! two new babies. Yay!!!
Diana - how exciting. Since my grandsons are still in their teens, I'm not expecting great grandchildren for a while. But something to totally look forward to! Enjoy every moment!
The above comment was from me. Forgot I now have to enter my name.
It's a cliche, I know, but one of the most important things I have learned is: don't sweat the small stuff --and many "big" things will turn out to be small stuff. Except in writing. There the details can make all the difference! Great post, Deb!
Mary Ellen Blackwood signing in ! What I have learned - because I am a romantic at heart and that's why I write romance - is that all those memes about love after fifty years marriage, love between ageing and ill couples, new love as a senior and dating excitement for the elderly - it's all true and real and wonderful. Never ever give up on love or forget to give love or think you are past the age where it matters. You never are. Til then end.
So true, Gail. Things that used to worry me to no end, I now say - hey, step back, think about it, come up with a solution, and move on. Instead of worry, worry, worry!
Love this! I figure I have many years still left to find love, both in the books I haven't yet written and personally. Wouldn't that be fun! A second chance!
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