Framing My World - 1

My Viewpoint

A viewpoint is all in perspective to the experiences that you have had, the people who have influenced you, the paths that God has led you down. We frame our world by those experiences, and they mold us into who we become and how we develop our belief systems. I find it intriguing and often wish that I could go into someone's mind and see life through their lens. I try to live life in my lane, and with God's help, I try to do what is right and wholesome and helpful to myself and others.

Being a wife

As a wife, I have loved deeply the one that I chose to spend my life with. There have been no regrets. He taught me much about life with his genuine love for others and his sense of right and wrong. Two lessons I learned from him early in our marriage come to mind. 1) “Don’t remind me of my mistakes, I have not forgotten them”….and 2) After we make a decision, we don’t look back and say ‘what if’ we had done something differently.  We move forward and do the most we can to be happy and grateful.  Mother often said that we have a marriage made in heaven. Wherever you find one of us, the other is not far away. I can be happy anywhere as long as he is there, too. We are soul mates; we lift one another up with respect. We are faithful, honest and considerate of each other. We communicate our thoughts and feelings well and we share everything. Derek understands my sensitivity.  I am so very thankful for his gracious spirit. He reminds me of my mother, never placing himself first. He has a great sense of what is right or wrong. There is no gray area.

I spent much time alone as a coach’s wife. It was tough at first for every weekend to be taken up with his work. I fought hard not to be jealous of his time spent with his job or hurt at the extra time he had to spend as a coach. Once I adjusted (probably more because I grew up)…I threw myself into my job as a teacher and embraced all that time alone, using it as prep time….countless hours planning lessons and grading writing assignments. I grew accustomed to being alone and operating around my own timeline without interruption. So in retirement, that had to play itself out in reverse, growing accustomed to having someone around. But, what a blessing to spend each waking moment with my best friend, loving and sharing all of what is good and all of what is bad.