After working with and sharing a suite with my good friend, Brenda DeMotte, for20 years, she decided to retire to focus on speaking and writing.  She's been a steady, stable part of my working life for a very long time and it was a shock when she made the decision three months ago. It was also very abstract.  I went office hunting and looked at a number of places which seemed cold and uninviting or downright moldy.  I was about to give up when I discovered the beautiful, peaceful, collaborative practice at Aslan Institute where I met with two delightful women, mother and daughter and was invited to join.  There is a basket of knitting in the lobby and soft, classical music plays through the building.  The gardens are beautiful.  The setting is woodsy and beautiful.  It's where I've always wanted to practice.

But then there's the moving.  Since my new office is furnished, I have to find a home for all my office furniture except the love seat that is needed in the new space.  A friend's niece is getting her first apartment, so, two weeks before the official move, they take the desk, comfy chair and book cases.  The contents that remain go into blue Ikea bags to await the move.  Then, during the last week, a thrift shop comes to take the lateral file and storage cabinet.  More Ikea bags.  Moving day arrives in the middle of a terrible allergy season plus dust, so I sneeze and cough my way through the day.  Thank goodness for Brenda and her husband Jim and my wonderful husband Rod who did all the hard work - in torrential rain.  Now our garage is occupied by 8 Ikea bags and I can't find anything.

I miss Brenda already.

And then more change and loss when my cousin/heart-sister suddenly died on May 11.  She was a brittle diabetic, but 59 is far too young.   Her brother, his fiance and our third heart-sister and I have spent hours cleaning her apartment, finding homes for her dog and two cats (happily, found) and trying to figure out the puzzle of her world and accommodate the demands of her landlord.

Joan was tall, strikingly beautiful and fiercely loyal.  She had terrible taste in men but always carried herself like the fashion model she was in her 20's. She adored her dog and her cats and her friends and would do anything she could for people she loved.  She was an amazingly talented artist and I treasure the 3 pieces she did for us.

I miss her very much.

So May has been lots of sad change and lots of loss.  It's also been lots of good change and new doors opening.  And I've learned I'm not as flexible and able to manage stress as I thought, nor as grown up.  

Sometimes life slaps us upside our heads and reminds us we're still under construction.