Your writing about hope got me through so many darker days. I am forever grateful. Thank you for sharing your incredible energy and talent with us all. I am so excited about your new venture!
Happy birthday Connie! I love it that you are starting a new adventure. So very courageous. I just turned 70 this year and I cannot believe it. In fact I truly believe that I must be talking about someone else. I finally retired and love it. I feel a little guilty that I am not accomplishing as many projects as I thought I would but hope does spring eternal. I started baking sourdough at the beginning of the year and named my sourdough starter “Rabbit” (in honor of this year of the Rabbit) when I realized that naming your sourdough starter is a “thing”. I had hoped that I could redeem 19 year old self since I had baked a brick of bread to take to my aunts’ house for a holiday dinner. Aunt Margaret laughed and laughed when she couldn’t cut it with a Ginzu knife……which according to her was supposed to cut anything. Well cheers in heaven Aunt Margaret and Aunt Lizzy. Mr. Rabbit is helping me make some delicious sourdough bread and it cuts just fine. It is never too late. ❤️
Please absolve yourself of that guilt, Nuanna, for not filling your days of hard-earned retirement with projects. You and I are only enough to remember too many moments of useless guilt.
Your story about that first loaf of bread is hilarious.
Connie, you are of course so right about useless guilt. I will tackle my projects on my own time. I am so grateful that I now get to choose the projects that I want tackle.....whether it is sourdough bread baking or remodeling or gardening or continuing to lay our brick patio walkway.
You are also so right about living in the “real world”. I was once gently reminded by a counselor that I had chosen to help me through a rough time in my life......he wanted to help ground me because he believed I wasn’t looking at reality the way he saw it......maybe my glasses were a bit rose colored. I agreed that I would try to “dance above his reality” and he just laughed. We all have our own way of looking at and experiencing reality and that is okay.
Hi Nuanna, I too am 70, and still think I'm in my 20's. My Mother had a similar story about baking bread. She was a new 19 year old bride, married to her 21 year old WWII veteran husband. She decided to make him her first loaf ever of challah, like a good new bride should do. Well, just like you, she made what she called a "door stopper". Which explained why my entire life I never saw her bake anything - bread, coffee cake, pies, birthday cakes! Nothing! Unless it was Duncan Hines. I'm now trying to learn to bake. 😊❤️
My dad drowned when I was 11. Unlike Camille's dad, he was not too involved in his children's (six) lives. It made the next six months hard to get through. It sometimes seemed I would not have a reason to smile. But life carries on, and the friends and adventures that subsequently came into my life gave me hope and I realized that old adage about time healing all wounds was true. Don't lose hope that life will be good again.
Happy birthday. Only your writings can make me cry and laugh and hopeful and concerned and uplifted all at once. Thank you! How wonderful to now also receive your "Hopefully Yours" in my email! Here is to "hope", always.
My son, now 34, was on his high school's swim team. This exact thing happened at one of their meets. It was the 500 m relay. Every team had finished the race and Andy was still swimming with several laps left. People in the stands were cheering him on as were every member of every team at the meet--standing along the side of the pool shouting, "Go Andy! Go Andy!" Andy finished his race and stood proud as we all cheered for him. I was a middle school teacher for many years and I used the story of Andy so many times in my lessons.
Good luck with this new endeavor. I love the things you write!
I'm so thankful for the years I lived in the Cleveland area. This is when I began to follow you. I read everything I could because your words speak clearly about so many things I care about. Your new journey of "Why hope?" is what our world needs more of. Thank you for sharing your compassion for people and insight to real life. Happy Birthday!!
I can’t tell you how happy I am that I can now read your writings easily and regularly. You will be my second paid subscription; second only because you just got here. Thank you, Connie!
So happy you’re doing this. I think we share a similar philosophy. In fact, I have a pillow and keychain that says, “Don’t look back, you’re not going that way”. Or in the wise words of Tom Petty, “You can look back but it’s best not to stare”. Happy Birthday!
Beautiful. Connie, You are so real and, despite your very public persona, you never seem to lose that realness. The world needs you. I know for sure that I do!
Happy birthday! I’ve been reading you for longer than I can remember. I’ve got you and Heather Cox Richardson on Substack--a perfect combo. This is a great forum for you!
Thank you for this thread of kindness. I am reading every single one.
Happy birthday! You are a bright light in my life. Excited to see your new venture.
Your writing about hope got me through so many darker days. I am forever grateful. Thank you for sharing your incredible energy and talent with us all. I am so excited about your new venture!
Happy birthday Connie! I love it that you are starting a new adventure. So very courageous. I just turned 70 this year and I cannot believe it. In fact I truly believe that I must be talking about someone else. I finally retired and love it. I feel a little guilty that I am not accomplishing as many projects as I thought I would but hope does spring eternal. I started baking sourdough at the beginning of the year and named my sourdough starter “Rabbit” (in honor of this year of the Rabbit) when I realized that naming your sourdough starter is a “thing”. I had hoped that I could redeem 19 year old self since I had baked a brick of bread to take to my aunts’ house for a holiday dinner. Aunt Margaret laughed and laughed when she couldn’t cut it with a Ginzu knife……which according to her was supposed to cut anything. Well cheers in heaven Aunt Margaret and Aunt Lizzy. Mr. Rabbit is helping me make some delicious sourdough bread and it cuts just fine. It is never too late. ❤️
Please absolve yourself of that guilt, Nuanna, for not filling your days of hard-earned retirement with projects. You and I are only enough to remember too many moments of useless guilt.
Your story about that first loaf of bread is hilarious.
Connie, you are of course so right about useless guilt. I will tackle my projects on my own time. I am so grateful that I now get to choose the projects that I want tackle.....whether it is sourdough bread baking or remodeling or gardening or continuing to lay our brick patio walkway.
You are also so right about living in the “real world”. I was once gently reminded by a counselor that I had chosen to help me through a rough time in my life......he wanted to help ground me because he believed I wasn’t looking at reality the way he saw it......maybe my glasses were a bit rose colored. I agreed that I would try to “dance above his reality” and he just laughed. We all have our own way of looking at and experiencing reality and that is okay.
Hi Nuanna, I too am 70, and still think I'm in my 20's. My Mother had a similar story about baking bread. She was a new 19 year old bride, married to her 21 year old WWII veteran husband. She decided to make him her first loaf ever of challah, like a good new bride should do. Well, just like you, she made what she called a "door stopper". Which explained why my entire life I never saw her bake anything - bread, coffee cake, pies, birthday cakes! Nothing! Unless it was Duncan Hines. I'm now trying to learn to bake. 😊❤️
My dad drowned when I was 11. Unlike Camille's dad, he was not too involved in his children's (six) lives. It made the next six months hard to get through. It sometimes seemed I would not have a reason to smile. But life carries on, and the friends and adventures that subsequently came into my life gave me hope and I realized that old adage about time healing all wounds was true. Don't lose hope that life will be good again.
Happy birthday. Only your writings can make me cry and laugh and hopeful and concerned and uplifted all at once. Thank you! How wonderful to now also receive your "Hopefully Yours" in my email! Here is to "hope", always.
My son, now 34, was on his high school's swim team. This exact thing happened at one of their meets. It was the 500 m relay. Every team had finished the race and Andy was still swimming with several laps left. People in the stands were cheering him on as were every member of every team at the meet--standing along the side of the pool shouting, "Go Andy! Go Andy!" Andy finished his race and stood proud as we all cheered for him. I was a middle school teacher for many years and I used the story of Andy so many times in my lessons.
Good luck with this new endeavor. I love the things you write!
I'm so thankful for the years I lived in the Cleveland area. This is when I began to follow you. I read everything I could because your words speak clearly about so many things I care about. Your new journey of "Why hope?" is what our world needs more of. Thank you for sharing your compassion for people and insight to real life. Happy Birthday!!
I can’t tell you how happy I am that I can now read your writings easily and regularly. You will be my second paid subscription; second only because you just got here. Thank you, Connie!
Thank You Connie. And Happy Birthday.
So happy you’re doing this. I think we share a similar philosophy. In fact, I have a pillow and keychain that says, “Don’t look back, you’re not going that way”. Or in the wise words of Tom Petty, “You can look back but it’s best not to stare”. Happy Birthday!
Beautiful. Connie, You are so real and, despite your very public persona, you never seem to lose that realness. The world needs you. I know for sure that I do!
Happy birthday! I’ve been reading you for longer than I can remember. I’ve got you and Heather Cox Richardson on Substack--a perfect combo. This is a great forum for you!
Welcome to Substack, Connie!
Thanks, Jen!
I had to read this twice, it just made me feel so good ❤️
So happy to be a tiny part of your support team here on Substack. Now I never have to miss a single ‘column’ 🥰