Bob* and his wife have a daughter with Down syndrome. The three vacationed at Walt Disney World. Her interactions with the staff and the characters were beyond magical – they were miraculous. As soon as Bob’s thirty years and four days working for the United States Postal Service concluded, he and his wife sold their…
Sylvia DeMott has a fear of public speaking. When I first saw her, DeMott was standing in front of about forty women sharing her fear and taking steps to overcome it. We were at a REFINE meeting. When I saw her speak, I knew I wanted to get to know Sylvia. She embodied strength in…
Hi all. Bye all. Coats piled up on the entryway bannister. Those days ended decades ago. Sundays and holidays with my grandparents, their ten children, their children’s spouses, their children’s children. We took up a pew, or two at Mass. There were so many of us kids! We ran upstairs and downstairs, girls ganging up…
Beginning to grapple with place in time and space. I am what happens when poor choices and strict religious ideology collide. My life was never going to be conventional. I arrived on the scene, January 27th, 1978, born to Colleen Mary Lynch. No father identified. Perhaps my mom was excited about having a child. She’d…
This is 40 Fit N’ Stylish‘s 100th blog post! Time moves so fast when building a business and managing a home. One of my most cherished parts of blogging is getting to connect with and learn from others. I thought it fitting to share 10 pieces of wisdom I’ve learned while working on 40 Fit…
The idea of going on a meditative, spiritual, and/or yoga retreat has appealed to me throughout most of my adult life. I’ve never been on one. Even now, it’s hard to imagine making going on a retreat a priority. Have you made time for a retreat? Why’s it so hard to prioritize a retreat? There’s…
Meat and cheese on white bread, chips, cut up celery, and Little Debbie snacks were packed in my Care Bear lunchbox. Noodles with artificial chicken flavoring, pizza, cheese and rice were mainstays of teen life. Before school on cold winter mornings, I remember eating warm bread from the oven topped with butter and sugar. The…
Do you play the modern, first-world game, I Will Be Happy When…? It’s become so ingrained in my brain to push and be dissatisfied with where I’m at, that I’ve been playing it every day. Striving is great. So is appreciating and expressing gratitude for all that my life is right now. Sometimes I’m so…
Do you ever notice that when you’re moving in the right direction the world seems to work with you? Like everything is conspiring for you? Connections On January 7th, we decided to start house shopping. In less than a week we found the one and had our offer accepted. Yesterday we learned that we will…
I began this blog when I was just 39 and a half and didn’t know shit about shit. On July 16th I started putting the website together. On July 20th, I published my first post: What is the Ideal Lifestyle? Meditating on a Kayak. In my first post, I wrote about telling my yoga instructor,…
