This week's #bow has been real challenging - Thirty Years - three things that shaped my life.
I have already lived through six decades and currently in my seventh. There have been many many things that have shaped my life in a big way, so I've tried to choose three that had the biggest impact on my life!
One lesson all the people I have crossed paths with have taught me, is to have Compassion, as we cannot tell what others have gone through in their walks of life!
Second Decade - Career Choice
So I started thinking about each decade, and the very first and most important event took place during the second decade of my life and that was when I turned down the opportunity of becoming a teacher.
How could turning down an opportunity possibly be something that shaped my life?
Oh, I had big dreams of becoming a concert pianist; went for piano lessons and would feel quite down if I missed a day of playing the piano, but that dream was never fulfilled.
I still have that old piano, but it's in desperate need of restoration; some of the notes are dead and I was told that I should rather buy a modern piano, but I'm a sentimentalist and that ancient piano that used to stand in a gracious old farmhouse, many moons ago, where my parents bought it, will remain in my living room!
I was accepted at the teacher's training college but another more exciting opportunity arose - an apprenticeship as a draughtswoman in a professional land surveyor's drawing office.
The latter was my choice and one that I never regretted as I certainly would not have met the love of my life and not have had the two most beautiful little baby boys in the whole wide world who grew up into awesome young men, beautiful on the inside as well!
I made very special lifelong friends who have all helped shape my life and enriched it by choosing this career path.
Third Decade - A Tragic Loss Changes me Forever
To say the suicide of my twenty six year old brother in the third decade of my life, had a huge influence on the years to follow, is an understatement.
I was his big sister and always felt protective over him when we were growing up and would never in my wildest nightmares dreams have thought he would take his own life.
He was super talented but the separation between him and his wife plus their two little girls, was too much for him.
They were living in another province and none of us had a clue that he was going through depression.
Back in those days this condition was not understood; the person would be told to 'snap out of it'!
I was one of those who thought that way.
My brother was visiting my parents to spend Christmas with them, but also hoping for a reconciliation as his estranged wife and the little girls were visiting her parents who lived around the corner, but that never happened.
I will never forget the knock on the door at 4:30am and seeing my parents and my three younger brothers at the door and Mom just hugged me and we then heard the awful news.
Somehow our telephone did not ring that fateful night, so I was unable to say goodbye at the hospital.
I never saw my brother again as I wanted to remember him still full of life.
That shock caused physical health issues which led to a clinical depression - I lost my zest for life and swallowed anti-depressants for many years.
Music, walking and special friends and family kept me sane as I felt like I was drowning; never ever want to go through that agony again.
Sudden deaths seem to be a thing in our family as both my Dad and my second youngest brother died suddenly within three months of each other; both still active and seemingly healthy!
That happened the year I reached my half century mark.
The murder death of my favourite uncle who was my closest confidante and more like an older brother was something that made me sad and very angry at the same time!
Odd it may sound, that tragedy was an event that I believe got me onto the path of healing.
I honestly believe my uncle was leading me from the other side, as I then went to a very wise homeopath who was a clinical psychologist as well.
Thereafter an old school friend called out the blue and asked if I would go to transcendental meditation classes with her.
This was a time of healing and I've never taken an anti-depressant again!
Seventh Decade - Retirement leads to a new Business Venture plus Hive enters my Life
So...I was quite cheesed-off when I had to retire as the big corporation where I was employed, do not allow one to work once you reach a certain date; I call it their sell-by-date.
I have told the story of what happened post-retirement many times here on Hive, so will keep it short and sweet.
I turned our empty cottage into an Airbnb using very little finance as it was already fully furnished and only needed extra little touches and some new appliances.
This soon turned into a full-time business as I bumped into a local guesthouse owner who subtly warned me that I could get reported if I don't register with the municipality.
Little did she know that she actually did me a favour instead of frightening me off, as we are now the bnb with the highest review rating overall in our area.
Becoming a small business owner has been a huge learning curve and a load of hard work; in the beginning we pumped everything back into sprucing up our bnb, but it has been so worth it as we have met the most amazing people from all over the world as well as locals from all walks of life and the extra income has helped us maintain our large home and allows us little luxuries now and then plus we're able to travel locally and enjoy the natural beauty of South Africa!
Confession Time - Hive becomes my obsession
I have to add one last thing that has shaped my life during this seventh decade, and that is blogging here on Hive, where I can talk about anything and everything plus share my love of cooking and baking, although I've not done much of the latter lately as starting the Silver Bloggers Community kept me really busy in the beginning, plus some hectic RL issues this past year!
Hubby and I in our Silver years; he is the one who keeps me on track and reminds me to slow down!
Thank you to all my new friends here on Hive for listening to all my stories and remember there still are a couple of hours left to enter this week's #bow - Thirty Years - three things that shaped my life.!
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