A Year of Great Change

Significant changes occurred during 2013. Sarhina, the last of the five great cats who lived with me from 1998 till this year passed in April at the age of 15. My mother passed in June at the age of 90. And I retired from the corporate world in November after 34 years.

 2013 was neither good nor bad, it just was. I will always remember going back to Pittsburgh during the last days of my mother’s life. I walked around my home town for the first time in the summer in 34 years. Haunted by the neighborhood I grew up in during the walk, the lush green lawns and forested covered roads and paths were surrealistic. I forgot how wonderful the scent of summer was there. I remembered so much from my childhood during the nostalgic walk, and was even more surprised by how much I could not remember. I always returned home for Christmas in the winter, but this was my first of two trips back in the summer. The first trip was to see my Mother while she was still alive. The second trip was for her funeral. Delivering the eulogy at her funeral was one of the hardest things I have ever done.

A huge change occurred when I left the corporate world behind after 34 years. That life and routine was mostly all that I knew. Leaving behind the safety, comfort and routine of the job I had for so long was hard.

The passion for the work was gone, and I knew it was time to move on. If you don’t have a passion for what you are doing, a reason to get out of bed each morning, then the time has come to find something new. I had the passion for work for many years, or I would not have stayed for so long. I am not retiring. Retire is the Latin word to “withdraw.” I do not simply plan to withdraw.

Now I plan to be an adventure travel photographer and writer/blogger. Writing and photography is where my passion is now.  I can now go back to these awe inspiring  places for months at a time that before I could see for just a few weeks before coming back to the corporate world. Who knows what incredible adventures and experiences lay ahead. I am just at the very beginning of a very exciting new phase of my life. Every day opens my life to a new adventure. I am so excited.