Life Lessons - Learned and Still to Learn

Back in 2008. after my father died, my mother requested that we move back to Virginia to be near her. My now-estranged sister had also been asked but, despite her having no children and being self-employed in a job that could be done from anywhere, she declined, saying that moving from Los Angeles to Virginia would make her crazy. So, the job fell to us. I let Chris make the decision. He was excited about living in another country and so we made plans. I was fearful, and later proved right, that after a certain amount of time, one cannot, as they say, go home again, but we did it. We went through months of bureaucratic red tape and finally were given the elusive green card the day before we were due to fly out. We spent 23 months in the States before we came back to Scotland. The time we were there had its ups and downs, but there are two memories that stand out and warm my heart, especially now after Chris' death. Our first home was a town house in Fishersville. This location had ...

I've been thinking a lot about Chris' photography. He was so good and I hate to think of his images just languishing in the digital files on my computer. I am trying to think of ways to keep his work out there in the public eye. It certainly deserves to be seen. To that end, I am contemplating making his images available for download from some sort of online shop. For that, I am sure I will have to purchase some photo software to make sure the images will download with sharp enough resolution for the buyer to be able to choose how to print it. And I need to be sure I have Chris' watermark and copyright stamp on the images as well.  As I was going through his work, I came across some beauties that remind me of our road trips. This first one is a gorgeous shot he got of Loch Tay. We always enjoyed driving along the loch. Such amazingly beautiful countryside. I also found this stunning sepia shot of the Kylesku bridge. Whenever we traveled way up north, we would take the road ...

Today is the Fourth of July. For my friends and family back in the States, it means Independence Day. But for me, this day is far more special, more meaningful. Thirteen years ago today, Chris and I got married. We had been together for nearly two years, had been engaged for well over a year, had planned several weddings we then cancelled because of my father's health. (I just couldn't imagine getting married knowing he was so unwell.) I imagine we could have gone on forever without actually getting married, but Chris' health problems (at this point some cardiac issues were showing up) and the fact that my mother wanted us to come to States after Dad died in March 2008, the decision to finally get married made sense.  It was a beautiful day in Moffat, Scotland. Our appointment at the registry office was set for early afternoon. We assembled there with our two witnesses and did the deed. Funny, my first marriage had been the whole wedding thing - the dress, the flowers, the ...