Costa Rica – April Coker, Author

Already Spring is here. The lawn mowers have been brought out of storage and are humming throughout the neighborhood. Brown yards and fields are now green, red bud trees are blooming with their pink blossoms, and dogwood trees are poised for their white outburst. Eager gardeners already swarm the nurseries for tender plants they hope don’t succumb to a freeze before summer. I pull weeds, trim off dead stalks from old lantana and hydrangea bushes. Yes, I know it’s not the right time to trim hydrangea bushes, but mine become such monsters that I have to. Besides, I haven’t seen them bloom for several years. They have overstayed their welcome, I’m afraid.

So time marches on. It’s been two months since Jimmy passed away, and I’m doing okay, I think. I’ve kept myself busy with things like writing thank you notes, talking to friends and family, taking care of grandkids, and keeping house. I even went to Costa Rica for a week, courtesy of my son and his wife. The change of scenery, the beach, the ocean. . .all were balm to a battered soul.

Me on the Pacific Ocean beach in Costa Rica

Even after the memorial service, which turned out almost perfect in my opinion, I still feel in limbo. Unsettled. Unsure. Unprepared. I’m alone in this house, on this property. I alone am responsible for its upkeep, its repair. I am a widow. I make all the decisions now. I am a widow.

Spring speaks of new beginnings. So it does. Am I ready? “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” Philippians 4:13

Ready or not, here I come. No hide and seek here. I’m all in.

What about you? Is spring a new beginning for you?

XOXO

Coco: World Traveler and Grandma Extraordinaire

One of the many beautiful beaches in Costa Rica

Can it be three months since my last post? If you’re following my attempts at blogging, I apologize. Life just gets in the way sometimes, and sometimes in a glorious fashion!

November found me most days at the little shop where I work part-time. We got busy with Christmas gift wrapping earlier than usual this year, which required some schedule rearranging so I could be at work. It seemed that with Thanksgiving being a little early, our customers started their shopping earlier, and called upon us to wrap their treasures. We’re not complaining, though. We were very busy until Christmas Eve.

I got a break in the wrapping frenzy, though. My son and his wife invited me to come along with them on vacation to help with my two-year-old grandson. Destination? Costa Rica!

One last chance to use my passport before it expired, and what a lovely way to do it! We enjoyed a tropical paradise while everyone here had to dig out their heavy winter coats. The Pacific Ocean was absolutely beautiful, the howler monkeys and iguanas fascinating, and the bonding time with my grandson priceless.

Me and grandson just before a wave hit him and made him scared of the beach the rest of the trip!

Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end, so after ten days we returned to our daily lives, and me to the wrapping frenzy. I’ll never forget my time with my son and his family, and I’ll forever treasure the moments my grandson and I shared.

I can’t believe I’m here!

“Tell me about the trains in the shower, Coco,” he says when we lay down for his nap. Then I tell him the special bedtime story I made up just for him. “Nighty night, sleep tight!”

XOXO