New England...Check

 I have been working on visiting all fifty US states and this past weekend I was able to check off the elusive New England three, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine. Due to some plan changes I also was able to check of the pesky little state of Rhode Island. 

 Saturday was the MAINE event!  Lighthouses and Lobster with Sun and Surf. State number 43 checked off my list…only seven more to go!

States 44 and 45 checked off today! New Hampshire and Vermont did not disappoint- and I am bringing home some “Sugarbush” farm organic maple syrup. However,  I will not be bring home cheese from said farm as I have already devoured the extra sharp aged cheddar! 🤗

Three states were not enough to check off my list…I needed to make it an even four! State number 46…Rhode Island was checked off ! Old cemeteries, where family members were located and then a quick drive to Colonial Newport. Then it was back up to Massachusetts to see Plymouth and more lobster. 

Ron and I woke up earlier on Tuesday morning, September 7th 2021 and headed back to Boston for our flight home...but we had to make a few stops along the way! It would be a shame to come all this way and not to see the hallowed battle ground where the first shots for freedom from tyranny started on April 19, 1775. As I stood and read the inscription on the Minutemen Monument I was deeply moved by the loss of life for the freedoms that I currently enjoy. I am grateful to my father who taught me to always respect and honor those freedoms and all those, then and now, that gave everything to preserve this nation.

How I love stand and sing the Star Spangled Banner, by Francis Scott Keys. The words move me and have sink deep within my heart. As I walked these sacred grounds and thought of the last verse to the song my heart was filled with emotion and my tears flowed freely.

O thus be it ever when freemen shall stand

Between their lov'd home and the war's desolation!

Blest with vict'ry and peace may the heav'n rescued land

Praise the power that hath made and preserv'd us a nation!

Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,

And this be our motto - "In God is our trust,"

And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave

O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave. 

One to Sixty One

From 1 to 61 and still some things never change! I am very grateful for all the years in between, even the hard painful ones! I am blessed beyond measure. Happy Birthday to me…I made it through another year. 

Life has been full of challenges but those same challenges have created a strong, independent and self assured woman.

I am a daughter, sister, wife, mother and a "Nana!"

I know who I am, what I am and what I want to become.

I am capable of doing hard things

I value trust and honesty in myself and others.

Jane Austen, my favorite author, once wrote, “... I have no notion of loving people by halves, it is not my nature.” That statement is true for me, I love deeply and my tender heart is both a feature of strength and of weakness. One might say that I think with my heart, I feel with my heart and I love with all my heart.

What would l tell that little one year old Heidi, sitting on the car? I would tell her...

Life is going to be a grand adventure, full of love, laughter and many tears. You will endure, you will grow and you can enjoy all that life has to offer, so continue to grow and become someone, that in sixty years you can be proud of. You go this Heidi!

I am SIXTY ONE today and I am PROUD of who I am and the incredible life that I have lived.  I am not perfect, but I am ME!