The most important thing that has happened is that my mom died. The funeral was yesterday, and I was going to write about it, but as I started to think about things to write in relation to this past week, I discovered my emotions are still a little too raw to do it right now. The horrible events today in Connecticut are doing something odd and as yet indescribable to my personal grief. The one thing I can say is the fact that the man shot his mother on the week I said farewell to mine is particularly galling. I can't even begin to talk about the children.
I also found out when I came back from the funeral and checked my Facebook page, a colleague (two years younger than I) had died suddenly the day before. This was not someone I knew personally, but I knew who he was. He taught a workshop I had attended recently. One of the young ladies I accompanied to Germany this past spring was his student, and her Facebook post was how I found out. She liked him a lot, as I think most of his students did.
The final thing happening is this, and I am glad I have something to say that's positive. My husband and I recently bought a place in Florida. We will be "snow birds" who head south when the weather gets too cold. We bought the whole place online (offer, etc) and closed with a notary here, but we spent Thanksgiving week there. We met a few neighbors and we love the place. We will keep our home here for some time yet, but we will probably eventually make our permanent home there.
Once I start my new blog, I will post here one last time with the information. Thanks to those of you who took time to read this blog.