Author: Dede

I am always learning something new about life. My life is made richer by friends, family, travel, experiences, books and hobbies.
Posted in depression, life
Posted on by Dede

 

Why am I telling this story? It’s simple. There are so many simple ways to find joy. I know when you are down, it can seem to be a monumental task to even start the littlest project. I just hope you find some inspiration here so you aren’t stuck (Like I was) in a dark place.

I have so much fun spending time with a toddler. When I was a young mother, I didn’t have as much patience as I do now. And anyone who has spent time with a toddler knows patience is key to success.

When my girls were young, I always enjoyed doing fun projects with them. And when we had many rainy days recently, I knew I needed to come up with something to make waking up in the morning an exciting activity for a two-year old. I had no idea how successful this little project would be.

Taking lima beans, the kind you buy dried at the grocery store, and placing theIMG_6587.JPGm between wet paper towels, my little guy and I, placed them in ziploc bags and put them in a dark place. Within the next week or so, the beans sprouted roots. Our next step was to plant the seeds into tiny pots.

My guy’s job was to water them everyday. It was always the first thing he wanted to do. And when they spouted above the soil, there was so much excitement in the house. Now it is time to replant them into a large pot and have them climb a tomato cage.

And as the plants grow towards the son, you too can find the light in your life.

 

Posted in communication, divorce, Faith, life

Changing Direction

Posted on by Dede

IMG_6139.jpg

 

Say hello to my family. It isn’t exactly the family I imagined I’d have. My husband, the girls’ father isn’t in the picture anymore, literally and figuratively. For a long time after he left, I felt like a failure. It took a few years, lots of counseling, support from my daughters and son-in-law, and loads of prayer to finally understand I wasn’t a failure.

I did spend lots of time being mad at God. I couldn’t understand why He didn’t answer my prayer to save my marriage. Slowly but surely God guided me to an understanding that sometimes He doesn’t say Yes, but He says I have something better planned for you.

I am no longer on the journey to a 50th wedding anniversary and it still disappoints me, but I’ve experienced so much joy in the last few years, I am beginning to grasp God’s plan. I don’t have the power to see into the future so I don’t actually know which direction God will be taking me next. I’ve moved 6 times since 2012 and have gone from living in 4200 sq. ft house with a pool and home theater to a 1000 sq. ft duplex. I live in a town I didn’t even know existed until a few years ago. I live here because I wanted to be close to my daughter and son-in-law.

In less than 18 months, they will be moving across the country to the Northeast. My other daughter lives in CA. Again, having my girls living so far apart wasn’t part of my plan. I still pray God can work it out so we can all live near one another.  I will continue to work daily on trusting him,

My life is going in a new direction and I am waiting to see where that leads me.

Posted in life

What’s in a Name

Posted on by Dede

Have you ever wondered if your personality would be different if you’d been given another name? I wonder about that because there is such a disparity between my name and my sister’s name. Ok, I’ll admit it’s strictly my own opinion. But how many people dislike their name?

Full disclosure. I am name after my maternal grandmother, whom I loved. I just never loved her name. The story goes my mother wanted to name me after a beautiful dancer but her mother made her feel so guilty concerning naming me, she relented and named me after her mother. I became legally Daphna Delores. Every time I type my legal name it’s highlighted as a misspelled word. No one can pronounce it. The closest anyone ever gets is Daphne.

My sister came along two years later and was named after the beautiful dancer, Cyd Charisse. She left the hospital as Charisse Anne. She grew into a successful and beautiful woman with natural blonde hair. She was always popular with a sunny disposition. Every time we moved, it would take me a full year to make friends. My sister, on the other hand, would have all sorts of friends and even a boyfriend!

I’ve always been overly serious but a name like Daphna isn’t for someone fun and carefree. Now at 18 months I received the nickname Dede and for most of my life I’ve been known as Dede, but that’s not my real name. My real name is on all the official documents of my life. So each and every time I move, change jobs, got married, got divorced etc Daphna Delores shows up.

What I’d like to know is if I had been named Charisse or Charlotte or Samantha etc would I have a less serious personality? Would I be more light-hearted? Would I have been popular? I’ve also been curious if someone didn’t know my name, just by looking at me, what would their guess be?

Posted in life

Not Me

Posted on by Dede

I, like many of you, never believed people when they said your life will go by quickly. No, I had years ahead of me. I wouldn’t grow old for eons.

Of course if you’re over 50, you now realize those people were right. I went to bed 24, newly married with a lifetime of hopes and dreams. I wake up now, I’m 58, divorced and forgotten how to dream.

Posted in life, shopping

Best Buy Confusion

Posted on by Dede

Can you explain this to me?

Okay I got the image from Best Buy website.

2 weeks ago I purchased a new MAC laptop which was regularly $1299 and was on sale for $1199. I bought two other items which were not on sale and not Apple products. I realized yesterday I bought a DVD writer and not an external Blu-ray player. I hadn’t opened the DVD writer, so I wanted to exchange it.

When I exchanged the $40 DVD writer which I apparently paid $32 receiving a 20% discount, for a $75 external Blu-ray player I was shocked when I saw my total. It said I owed $154. My math skills were perfectly able to see there was some gross error. How could I owe three times as much as I expected? $75-$32=$43 right?

I then received a very poor explanation from the manager. She explained I purchased a bundle. I explained I did not. The computer was priced at $1199 and didn’t require I buy anything else. She repeatedly told me I had purchased a bundle.

Now folks, I worked in retail a long time and I can assure you I am a savvy consumer. I’m very aware of any specials and just because I received a 20% discount on one item, doesn’t mean I bundled my purchase. If I had paid for each item separately, I would have spent $8 more but I could have then returned my unneeded DVD writer.

She never could fix the problem. Giving me the old it’s a computer glitch. Has this ever happened to anyone else? I finally gave up and just bought the external Blu-ray player for $75.

Posted in life

Do I know myself?

Posted on by Dede

Lately I’ve been asking myself several questions and I was surprised I couldn’t answer them. They aren’t difficult questions. What do I like to do? What is my personal style? What are my best qualities? What am I good at? Questions many people never ask because they already know. I thought I knew the answers to these questions but lately I’ve realized I have very little idea of who I am.

Strange because at the age of 58, society says you know yourself. You have life experience and can define who you are. Not the case for me. I think like many women, I defined myself as wife and mother. I haven’t been a wife for five years and although I’m a mother, my daughters are grown. The divorce put me in a downward spiral which I am happy to say is over.

Now I am left with so many questions. I put “me” on the back burner, completely forgetting who I am and what I like. In fact I’m not certain I ever knew the answers to those questions. As a perpetual people pleaser, it never occurred to me to even consider what I wanted.

Due to life circumstances I will be moving to a new city in about 18 months. I have no idea where I’ll be going. I’ll have to decide whether to follow my daughter and her family, move home and in with my mother, stay put here (without family or friends) or put the decision on hold and travel. My girls tell me staying here or traveling is just putting off life and living.

I think they are right. If I had the financially ability to buy a home, it might be an easier decision. Renting makes me feel rootless. My goal this year is to get to know myself and discover what I want.

I’d love to hear how you’ve learned who you are, what you’re good at, how you define yourself and how you discovered what you want in life.

Posted in Jesus

The love of a child

Posted on by Dede

I am a very blessed woman. At a time when I thought God didn’t hear my prayers, He was busy placing me where I needed to be. What I thought was a set back, a punishment turned out to be an answer to my prayer.

Unemployed after a heartbreaking divorce, wondering how much longer my money would last and feeling completely worthless and purposeless, my daughter asked me if I wanted to babysit a little boy 2 days a week. I said yes and that was the moment my heart began to heal.

He loved me from the moment I became one of his caregivers. When my daughter had her own baby, I became his full-time caregiver. A day doesn’t pass that he doesn’t hug me or tells me that he loves me. It genuine love. There are no hidden agendas. It’s simple. He needs me and I need him.

He became a big brother last year and I now have the pleasure of keeping him and his brother. While it’s not as easy at 58 as it was at 28, it still makes my heart swell with joy knowing I’m needed and loved.

So I’m slowly learning after a lifetime, God doesn’t always answer my prayers with a yes or no. Sometimes He says, I’ve got a better idea.

Posted in God, life, Uncategorized

Second Chances

Posted on by Dede

God has taken my life down a path I never imagined. This path has been a very bumpy ride but it has brought me a deeper faith and given me an opportunity I never thought I would have.

As a young mother I did my best to be a good mom and make memories with my daughters. Of course as life teaches us hindsight is 20/20 and I can now look back and see many times I was too busy just to enjoy my daughters. So I can’t even begin to express my gratitude to God for bringing me to this place in my life.

I now work 50+ hours a week as a nanny but while I’m paid I don’t feel like a nanny. In fact that the oldest renamed me Mimi. The two boys I watch are like grandsons to me. (Top 2 photos). And to make this blessing even grander, my own daughter and son-in-law gave me a grandson in June. (Bottom photo). I get to spend my time with these three precious boys and I have the wisdom to know just to enjoy the moments and not stress out over little things. My life is overflowing with love.

I wouldn’t have picked or imagined this life for myself which is why I am so thankful God knows best because it’s been many years since I’ve been this happy and had this much peace.

Wishing you Joy and love this Christmas and every day in 2018.

Posted in divorce

No expectations

Posted on by Dede

If you continue to hope someone who continually disappoints you will change, its best to stop hoping. Most people never change. A tiny few will surprise you and change. I know because I surprised my girls and changed.

However my ex-husband (30 yrs of marriage), has for their entire lifetimes, disappointed them. And now after five years divorced, he has sunk even lower. I endured being treated as though as I was invisible and now he is doing to the girls.

How you ask? Always staying focused on himself and his comfort. Handing over gift buying to his live-in younger girlfriend who doesn’t know either of them. And my daughters have no desire to know her. Every time, which is rarely, they see their dad, they say it’s like he’s on something. He’s not himself. He makes odd comments. He doesn’t follow through on promises.

It breaks my heart for my daughters. I asked my oldest if she thought he treated them so poorly because they are also my daughters and remind him of me and all his betrayals? Her response was no. She believed he saw his parents and his own siblings as his real family. She and her sister were just some unimportant extended family.

So stop and think this Christmas season, if you are a person of integrity? Do you make people feel valuable and loved? Are you interested in those close to you or is your focus solely on your own life? Do your children know you love them and they are the most important people in your life? Change is not impossible, but it does take hard work. If you are someone who continues to hope my advice is to stop. Pray you can accept this person as he is and not to allow his problems to hurt you.

Posted in life

Someone else’s life

Posted on by Dede

Have you ever had a time when you thought to yourself, I am living someone else’s life. This isn’t my life. It must belong to some other person because in my life I am not alone and struggling. I’m not living in a nondescript town with no friends and no life. In my life I’m not working 50 plus hours a week with no health insurance. This black and white life with no color, can’t be my life.

My life is supposed to be colorful, full of friends, family and experiences. I’m supposed to be living in a quaint town with lots of history and four seasons. In my real life I have a circle of close friends who are there for me and I for them. My life is full of travel opportunities and chances to learn and experience new things. I have a home which is always open to friends and family. I give my time and talents to my church and those in need. I don’t work 50 hours a week. I don’t worry about getting sick because I have health insurance. And I don’t get lonely because I have a loving and caring husband. That is my life or I should say the life I imagined I would have.

Then I wake up and realize my real life is what I first described.

Posted in depression

Unsure

Posted on by Dede

I haven’t been posting because as my anger and bitterness has lessened (most of the time), I find I’m not sure what to write.  I’ve used writing for so long to express my darkest feelings, now that I don’t feel so dark on the inside, it seems I don’t have much to say.

That alone bothers me. Who only has negative things to say and nothing positive or upbeat? Who goes through each day neither sad nor happy? Who has flat emotions? 

I’ve asked my doctor to wean off my anti-depressant because I think after being on it for four years, it has dulled my emotions. I don’t necessarily feel sad, but neither do I feel happy or joy. Even the birth of my first grandson feels flat and not as exciting or emotionally moving as I expected.

Does anyone else struggle with having no emotions?

Posted in Faith

We needed each other

Posted on by Dede

I have wondered why God set me on this path to live in Temple, TX. While there is nothing wrong with it, I don’t feel at home here. I know my kids are leaving in two years and I’ll leave the too. There is no reason to stay. This town is not conveniently located near an airport so I could travel to see my girls, so I know it’s temporary. I was having trouble digging myself out of the sadness and then,

Enter this young man

My daughter was watching him three days a week and another woman was watching him the other two days. Turns out the other woman was completely ignoring him and making him sit on the rug! My daughter asked if I’d like to take the other lady’s place. I said Yes! Immediately A.P.L. stole my heart.

I’ve watched him now for 8 months. And a couple of months ago I realized why God had sent me to Temple. APL needed me and I needed him. I now watch him 5 days a week. He named me, Mimi and I couldn’t love him more if he was my own flesh and blood. My depression is almost 100% under control. I have a day every now and then but it’s rare I feel bad.

So thank you Lord for taking me on this path, even if in the beginning I didn’t understand. It’s a big reminder You know what you’re doing and I just need to trust.

Posted in Moving, New life

Square peg in a Round hole

Posted on by Dede

I don’t remember when I first heard that phrase but I knew immediately it described me. And now many, many years later nothing has changed.

I’ve done my best to squeeze myself into a round hole and almost always it didn’t work. And more importantly it left me bruised and battered. Now at 57, I wonder if I’ll find a place where I fit.

I thought I had found my forever home. My ex and I lived in a Dallas suburb from 1986 to 2013 when we divorced. I had even started thinking about buying burial plots. The divorce forced me to leave. I couldn’t afford it.

Moving around as a kid, having an extremely small family I didn’t have a connection to a particular place, a place which felt like home. It broke my heart to leave Flower Mound. 

My heart is seeking a place to call home, a place where I belong.

Posted in Uncategorized

New Addition

Posted on by Dede

Meet the newest addition to my family. My first grandchild, Elliott Pax.

Posted in Uncategorized

Goodbye for now

Posted on by Dede

I think I’ll be taking a hiatus from blogging. I haven’t written very many posts in the past few months. I can only think of depressing thoughts and no one wants to read that crap.

Posted in Uncategorized

A Theme

Posted on by Dede

I have been neglectful of my blogs. And I have also failed to give my blog a theme, a reason for people to return to read it. Hopefully all of that is about to change.

Posted in love

Links of Love 

Posted on by Dede

I used to take care of myself. I made certain I looked my best most days. I exercised. I watched what I ate. Unlike many women who lose their appetite post divorce, I couldn’t seem to eat enough. I stopped exercising and had a steady diet of junk food. I always took care of myself to please my ex-husband. I worried he’d leave me if I didn’t live up to his expectations. Imagine my surprise when I discovered it didn’t matter. I was looking better than I had in ten years and he left. And with it, my desire for self care walked out too.

Now 4.5 years later, I’m ready to take care of myself but finding the strength to take the first few steps seems overwhelming. 30 pounds needs to go for health reasons. I know exercise is an antidepressant and will help keep the demons away. I also know how I feel about myself is directly related to how connected each link in my circle is. Each thing needs to be connected to the other. 

Link One: Me time-it’s okay to make an effort to look attractive. It says I love myself.

Link Two: Exercise makes me feel strong and when I feel strong, my confidence grows.

Link Three: When I feel healthy, I look better and feel better. 

Link Four: Creative time- whether I’m writing or sewing or reading, I find it nourishes my soul. And when my soul is being fed, I feel happier.

Link Five: Don’t isolate myself. It’s been easy to do but being with people is key to me feeling better.

Now all I have to do is find the willpower to take those first few steps to begin rebuilding my links of strength.

Posted in Uncategorized

Life without Light

Posted on by Dede

Another horrible terroist attack took place yesterday in Manchester, UK. Innocent lives were lost because of a misguided soul who lived everyday in darkness.

And in the dark, perverse and evil forces trained his brain to stop thinking. They programmed it to do what they themselves are too cowardly to do.

And in the dark you have no hope. You can’t see the people waiting to help you. You can’t imagine a life with light because you’ve been in the darkness for so long.

We can’t let those souls stay in the darkness of evil or there will be more attacks. We must spare a kind word, a smile, hope to each person who crosses our path.

The light shines in the darkness. But the darkness hasn’t overcome the light. John 1:5

Posted in Faith, God

A Miracle around the Corner

Posted on by Dede

Above is a photo of the Ethan Allen hall table I purchased at a resale shop for $85. Little did I know stopping at the new resale shop around the corner would turn out not to be a random choice I made.

I clicked with the owner right away.  We chatted for over 45 minutes. After I made sure the table would fit, I called back and said I wanted the table.

Yesterday I stopped again to look at a small side table. Unfortunately it has sold but we began to chat again. And before I knew it this woman and her husband were praying over me. No one has ever prayed over me in my 57 years. Standing in a circle of three, hearing ‘Lord lift her up, remind her Lord you have better days planned for her’ and many more words of love, I left the store choking back tears.

As much as I love my new ‘used’ table, I believe there was divine intervention and the table was just used to get me inside to meet these wonderful people.

Posted in family

Treasured Moments

Posted on by Dede

My baby turned 33 today and is expecting her first baby, a boy, on June 22nd. All of us who are parents understand how difficult it is sometimes to grasp who quickly time goes.

My sweet little jewel with her thick head of black hair, in a matter of what seems like a moment, is grown-up. She is going to be a mama. Very soon she and her husband will experience that explosion of love which happens in your heart. Which is soon followed by an intense desire to protect your child from everything hurtful. And  we know that not possible.

My friends tell me being a grandparent is even more fun than being a parent. I’m sure it will be. I’m ready to have my own explosion of love in my heart.