Living Outside The Lines
Kathy's Retirement Blog
by Kathy Merlino
3w ago
As very young children we were probably all taught to color within the lines.  According to my granddaughter, who’s about to graduate with a degree in education, coloring inside the lines is taught so that children develop their fine motor skills and learn to focus.  The kid coloring outside the lines may be creative or just plain obstinate about following the rules.  To ensure that creativity is also developed and the obstinate child gets to express their emotions in a healthy way, free hand drawing is also incorporated. How many of us, though, never deviated from coloring insi ..read more
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A Gift
Kathy's Retirement Blog
by Kathy Merlino
2M ago
Recently, a long time follower gifted me with a book.  Knowing I was widowed in 2022, she messaged me and asked if she could send me Hope For Widows – Reflections on Mourning, Living, and Change by Marilyn Nutter.  Having read several books on loss, mourning and starting anew, although I was firmly planted in the starting over phase of my journey, I was interested in reading this book, not only for me, but for others going through a similar experience.  Starting over is hard.  Any nugget of information to help along the way is much appreciated. As it turns out, I wish I had ..read more
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Where Have You Been?
Kathy's Retirement Blog
by Kathy Merlino
3M ago
I kicked off the holiday season at Thanksgiving with my family.  In the United States we celebrate on the fourth Thursday in November.  This year I felt especially grateful for my life and those sharing in my journey.  Now, with Christmas less than two weeks away and 2023 drawing to a close, I find myself ruminating daily about what a year it was for me.  Thankfulness for the good and not so good dominates my wondering mind. The not so good unsettled my ideas about life. Family, friends, love and compassion took on greater meaning as I felt humbled by the acceptance of my o ..read more
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Remembering Martin
Kathy's Retirement Blog
by Kathy Merlino
5M ago
As the one year anniversary of Martin’s death approaches, my heart weighs heavy with sorrow.  It’s been a strange year, one of deep persistent sadness coupled with immutable joy.  I’ve learned that sadness and joy are not mutually exclusive.  They are but two different emotions entwined around my heart in a meandering dance of mourning and moving forward with living.  Anything on two wheels Realistically, I know the hurt, the unfairness, especially given his healthy lifestyle, of his disease and death will never leave me.  He loved bicycling and motorcycling, anything ..read more
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You, Inc.
Kathy's Retirement Blog
by Kathy Merlino
6M ago
Somewhere along the zig-zag of my working years, the idea of marketing ones’ self to create your personal brand and get ahead in the workplace arose on the business how-to horizon.  Dubbed ‘You, Inc.’ the concept hinged on the entrepreneurial notion that we are a personal business. Remembering the lessons from my almost going-down-in-flames work experience I shunned the idea only to take it up in retirement, not as personal branding, but as a means of taking care of myself.  I turned the idea into one of self-care instead of self-branding. Culturally raised to put everyone else’s nee ..read more
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Books
Kathy's Retirement Blog
by Kathy Merlino
6M ago
The third Thursday of every month the book club I belong to meets at our community center.  This month’s read is In Every Mirror She’s Black by author Lola Akinmade Akerstrom, her debut novel.  A story about three black women, each with a dissimilar background from various countries, coming to live in Sweden.  As always, I’m interested in what my fellow book club members have to say about the novel, characters, themes, plot and setting.  Our discussions are usually quite lively and our views disparate.  Ordinarily, I leave with my mind opened to alternate perceptions ..read more
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Nutrition For The Ages
Kathy's Retirement Blog
by Kathy Merlino
7M ago
According to the National Institute on Aging (https://www.nia.nih.gov) we need fewer calories as we age, but require a healthy diet to age well.  It seems to me we always need a healthy diet regardless of age.  So, I looked into the aging well end of it meaning the type of diet necessary to meet that goal.  My concerns centered around muscle loss, vitamin needs, maintaining cognitive function and physical strength. As with so many other things in life what I need may not be what you need.  However, what I learned as I age and changed my eating habits may be beneficial to yo ..read more
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And So It Begins
Kathy's Retirement Blog
by Kathy Merlino
8M ago
And so it begins. Finally!  Last Sunday, a drizzly chilly day in the mid-60’s when normally Michigan temperatures would be approaching that of hell’s front porch, I located the site for my house.  Last winter the house locale was staked at the front of my property close to the road.  I was never happy with that site.  Today, the intention was to find a spot, which I loved. In spring of 2021 my oldest granddaughter and I stood on a little bluff looking at the view of trees lining the front of my property with farm fields stretching on the other side of the road for as far as ..read more
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Pumping Iron
Kathy's Retirement Blog
by Kathy Merlino
8M ago
I started pumping iron again in preparation for my trip to Italy.  I thought that dragging a suitcase even on a pair of wheels may be more than I could handle.  Then, there was lifting my carry-on bag into an overhead bin.  During my past travels I always did entirely carry-on, but that was in my younger days.  There was always the chance of another passenger or an attendant helping, but I preferred to be self-sufficient.  Yoga had strengthened my legs, improved my flexibility and balance to where I could stand and put my pants on – one leg at a time.  While my up ..read more
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Inspiration
Kathy's Retirement Blog
by Kathy Merlino
9M ago
Accompanied by granddaughter Sophie and her friend I visited Frederik Meijer Gardens and Sculpture Park in search of inspiration for the garden at my new house.  Located about forty five minutes away in Grand Rapids, Michigan I’m a member.  My membership allows me to visit throughout the year viewing the gardens during each season as I pursue ideas for my much, much, much smaller version of this 158 acre display of everything from manicured gardens to natural landscapes.  July the gardens are in high season filled with a wide assortment of plants in bloom.  Paradise for me ..read more
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