Good Advice

Greetings from Oregon! I rolled across this big, beautiful country over the course of about ten days and landed a few days ago. The highlights of the trip (as always) were the stops I made to visit friends along the route which is a perfect lead-in to The Bloom.

A couple years ago I was spending time with my cousin Carol. My mother was the youngest of five and the only girl. She had four big brothers and they were all first generation Americans of immigrant parents. I never knew my hard-working grandparents since they died when my mother was a young child.

All five siblings ended up marrying and having families and creating lives that I can only imagine their parents hoped for. I loved visiting my uncles and aunts. We didn't live very close to each other but still got together enough for me to appreciate family. Now, with my mother and all her brothers passed on, it feels important to get together with my cousins. It doesn't happen often enough, but when it does, I cherish it.

Carol and I are the oldest and only nine months apart. It makes sense that we discuss how the process of aging is going for us. Her comment during one of our visits is The Seed that inspired this week's Bloom.

"Keep moving and Be social."

Brilliant, right?!? I might add "Eat healthy" which I know she would also agree to. Once again, it comes down to the KISS principle -- simple and straight to the point:

• Get up and move. Park a little further away so you can walk a few extra steps when shopping. Find a good stretching routine on YouTube. Join a gym with a friend. Go dancing.

• Stay in touch with friends. Reconnect with people you haven't talked to or seen in a while (or plan a cross-country drive based on where you have friends to visit!). Sign up for a course at your local adult education center. Create community wherever you can.

• Support your total well-being with good nutrition. Put together all three ideas by inviting a friend to walk to a local restaurant that specializes in wholesome meals.

All this I wish for you! I would love to hear how you're doing any or all of these suggestions. Please reply if any of this rang true for you or not. Sending you love and sparkles ...

Sparkles and Love,