Happy New Years Eve Eve

Happy New Years Eve Eve to all my wonderful supporters and readers.

How is everyone doing on this fabulous Monday night? Are you ready for the New Year? Can you believe it, 2025 is only a day away. Gosh, where have the years gone? I can’t believe I’ve been on this planet for 55 New Years. Crazy to think about.

In all honesty, I haven’t celebrated many New Years. It wasn’t allowed in the cult in which I was raised and remained a part of for 48 years of my life. Now that I’m free, I celebrate holidays. I celebrate my freedom and I celebrate life. Oh how wonderful it is to think for myself and have family and friends who are authentic and not ones who are my friends as long as I remain a faithful JW, flawless and exemplary in following their teachings.

New Years 2025 is almost here and I have some really important New Years resolutions. Sure, one of them is to go the gym and swim ,walk more and eat better. Same as in years past, but those are the standard resolutions.

This year I am dedicating much of my time to fixing my book and making it the best it can be. I was blessed to have my friends daughter Stephanie review my book and she came back with some expert critiques that I value, respect and appreciate more then words can express.

This amazing young woman who has her degree I believe in creative writing along with other writing areas took her valuable time to review my book. She wrote me a letter and her words will forever resonate with me:

“I recognize this is a lot of feedback, but I think your book deserves lots of feedback because it is something special. This book should be published and should be read and loved.”

I was speechless. I am speechless. Someone with her background feels my book should be published. I still don’t know what to say other than, watch out world, here I come and thank you Stephanie for igniting my dream to have my book published. She lit a fire in me that I can’t explain. She made my book come alive within me and now it’s time to share it with the world, well that is, after I make lots of corrections.

I’ll be joining some writers groups. I plan to attend a few conferences and I will be taking some master classes online. I will be a published author. Me an author. I can feel it in my bones. I can’t wait to see my book on the shelves of Barnes and Noble and other book stores around the world. Who knows, maybe I’ll make it to TED Talks or I’ll get to be a guest on the Oprah Winfrey Super Soul Sunday show. My dreams are endless and I will make it. I hope you will all come along with me on this journey. You too make me a better writer. Thank you.

Along with becoming a published author and making the needed corrections in my book I also have another resolution I’d like to share with you tonight. I’d like to become a better friend. You see, I’ve come to realize that I have friends that need to be included in my life.

I have one friend in particular. Nancy. She is a widow and she’s also family to me. She has her son and daughters, however, they have lives too. They have families and they’re busy. They do spend time with her, but she needs friendships too and I haven’t been the best of friends towards her.

She is in a way part of the cult I left, however, she is okay with me putting up 16 Christmas trees. She’s okay with me and John. She loves John and says he’s a wonderful man and she hopes to find someone just like him. John is not a JW nor has he ever been one. The JW religion teaches it’s members to marry only in the lord and as they interoperate things, they say to marry only a JW. She wants a man like John and I’m not sure that is ever going to be possible in the JW religion.

Nancy isn’t and hasn’t judged me in any way. She wants a life filled with friends and family like I have. I have found true love, true friends and true family since leaving the cult. She sees that and wants it so badly for herself. She deserves to have true friends. She deserves to be in a religion that takes her in and becomes her family. Since she moved from her congregation in another city to the one where she lives now, she feels alone and she feels left out. Not cool. Not acceptable. God’s true people would never leave a widow to figure it out on their own.

I want to be a better friend to her. I want to include her in my family parties, holidays and functions. I know she’ll be swallowed up with all the true love that I’ve found in my life. She’s an amazing person. She’s giving. She’s hardworking. She beautiful and she’s a friend.

I want 2025 to be a good year for her too. My resolution is to be a better friend to her and to all my friends. You get out what you put in and I think I’ve been blessed with one heck of a friendship group here in my neck of the woods and I’ve been blessed with some friends who’ve never left my side when I needed a friend the most. Susan.

I saw this quote and I wanted to share it with everyone:

Life has a funny way of reminding us of those that are in need. Nancy was invited to come to my small New Years Eve party. Basically it’s just John and I along with my boys and their beautiful other half’s. We’ll be playing board games and having a couple of drinks, though I won’t be drinking due to my medications, but we’ll be home and celebrating the blessings of 2024 and getting excited for the many new adventures that await us in 2025.

Nancy wont’ be able to make it, however, she did tell me in a text today when she had to decline my invite, “please don’t forget about me. I appreciate you inviting me to these things so much. I love you.”

Don’t worry Nancy, I won’t forget you. You’ll always be on the invite list and it will by your choice to come to my holiday parties. No judgement.

I had a lumbar puncture on Friday and I am blessed that this one hasn’t caused me the pain that the last 5 have. I’ve had my spinal headaches, however, the over the counter meds along with sleep and being lazy seem to be helping me.

The last LP I had was in 2016. It was horrible. I wanted to die. The spinal headache was so intense, however, due to my beliefs back then a blood patch wasn’t an option. This time it was, but I didn’t need it.

With my last LP Nancy took time off of work and came and picked me up. She knew my ex husband was having me get up and work. She picked me up and took me to my vacation home in the mountains where she gave me the freedom to just sleep. She kept me medicated and watched over me for a week until I was able to function. While the pain was intense, I was able to stay in bed and do absolutely nothing. That was one of the best gifts anyone has given me. That was friendship at its finest.

I want to give back. I want her to not feel alone anymore. I want her to feel included in family functions and I want her to feel she has a friend no matter what. We all deserve to have someone be our friend, don’t ya think?

Well guys, I do hope this holiday season has and is bringing you lots of love and blessings. We’re so close to bringing in the New Year and with that being said, I hope everyone’s 2025 is filled with love and blessings that overflow your cups.

Until next time, don’t forget, Love Life++ Hugs.