I don't post here much anymore. Actually, I rarely visit. Eric is probably the reason I pop in every so often and I've even become a slacker there.

At the moment I'm at the top of my game. Well, as top as a 63 year old can be. After 3+ years of very tough emotional traveling, I'm back to being fit and fine.

Losing my mother was an unexpected devastation. I can now think about her without weeping. I still can't talk about her. I miss her. It's that simple. I know I'm lucky to miss her - it's a testimony of my love. I was devoted and dutiful to the very end. I was holding her hand when she took her last breath.

After 2+ years of abstaining from alcohol and attending AA meetings and doing the 12-Steps, I discovered I was simply a drunk and not an alcoholic, which I kinda suspected. The Program was good for me, though. I now enjoy a glass of wine every so often with no compulsion to medicate the pain of my divorce. (You were right, Eric!)

I had my second hip replacement last summer and nearly died during the post-surgical weeks when three pulmonary embolisms were found in my lung - and more in my leg that were headed to the same location. After six months of Coumadin, I've been given a clean slate free from clotting.

Tomorrow I fly to Casablanca, Morocco. I'll be associated with Cross-Cultural Solutions, which is a very soft version of the Peace Corps. I will only be there for 2 weeks. If it's a fit, I plan to return for an extended time. My placement is in Rabat in Morocco's only children's hospital. I'll be volunteering on the oncology ward. I've been immersing myself in French, which continues to be widely spoken in the former French Morocco.

Roger, my beloved cat & housemate is doing well. He's so ready for spring. I will be too after my plane safely departs Nashville.

To those who take the time to poke in here, I think of you with such fondness - some of it enduring, some of it renewed.

Au revoir mes cher amis, Reenie