The Ribbon of Road Ahead

Now here’s a woman I really admire.

Linda K. Olson

“Get Out and Go! If I can do it, you can too.”

I am so happy to be on Linda’s email list.   I get her posts, which are super inspiring.  I dove into her blog on my birthday, as I was finishing up the California segment of our road trip.

August holds a day that turned my life upside-down. Thirty seconds late in the month—the small amount of time it took for both legs and one arm to be severed from my body.  She wrote about the terrible van vs. train accident she was involved in near Salzburg, Germany.

You’d think the date would be engraved large, somewhere in my brain. A day that I would approach every year with trepidation or anger.  She couldn’t remember the date, so for 30+ years, she didn’t think about it.  Yet one day she was drawn to look it up.

August 27.   A date she will now not forget, but for reasons, we would not expect!

A day that I now choose to recognize.   Most of us would put bad memories of horrific events as far back in our minds as possible.  Or shrink down very small so no one could see us and come back to real size when the clock strikes 12 and that day is gone for another year.

Not to mourn, but to celebrate.    You lost so much, what is there to celebrate?

A wonderful marriage, two beautiful and talented children, a granddaughter, a rewarding professional career, a multitude of friends.   YES! There is this…and so much more.

A life well lived. No regrets.    Oh, how I  hope to be like this…to love who I was and accept who I am now, and cherish every day in between,  WITH NO REGRETS!

Linda K  Olson, Thanks for modeling this attitude of courage and resilience.  You make me want to do better!