Amber Waves ... Again!
Bringing back my 30+ year old newsletter to a new format
Hi! I’m he-eeere!
It’s been a few sleeps since I had a blog or newsletter. After learning about several of my LinkedIn friends moving here, I thought, “why not?” So, hi! Great to be here!
Why “Amber Waves”?
If you’re from the U.S., you might recognize this phrase. For those who don’t, one of our national songs, “America the Beautiful,” starts with these lines:
“Oh beautiful for spacious skies,
For amber waves of grain,
For purple mountain majesties
Above the fruited plain!”
Back in the early 1990s, I started my first newsletter as a way to keep my mission trip supporters aware of what I was doing and where I was going so they would continue to support me.
The newsletter needed a title and “Amber Waves” was born!
What am I going to do with Amber Waves now?
This space is my new home for writing my story.
I’ll use it to wave at you, welcome you to my world, and offer a quick read with a cup of coffee. (I take mine hot with half and half.)
You’ll read stories about
my life as a widow with two cats
this house I bought in December, 2023 and what I’m doing to make it my home
my work as an oncology nurse turned life/wellness/grief coach
lessons I learn or think others might need to know
whatever I want to write!
How often will you hear from me?
That is a great question and one that held me back from starting to write here.
Because I would love to have subscribers, I commit to writing at least once a week.
Now, I recently read a Substack email about taking PTO from blogging. I’ll let you know when I plan to take that time off.
Today
It’s Saturday, May 25. The beginning of Memorial Day weekend.
On Monday, we’ll remember those in the U.S. military who have lost their lives.
Some will do this quietly at gravesides. Others will attend parades and cookouts with family and friends. We’ll raise our flags and salute the ones who paid with their lives for our freedoms.
I don’t like talking about politics. I will, however, talk about, remember, and honor our military.
My late husband, Carl, was a U.S. Army veteran. He was drafted as a 19 year old and stationed in Korea during the Vietnam War.
Like many veterans of that war and era, he didn’t like to talk about what happened. What I learned from him is that he was in the 116th Military Intelligence and he developed aerial photographs.
After he returned home from his duties in Korea, he never flew in an airplane again. Until I asked him to fly to San Francisco for a vacation in 2012.
The thought of flying brought back memories he wanted to forget. It was something I didn’t quite understand at the time. (What I know now was how much he must have loved me in order to make that trip of a lifetime a reality.)
Trauma is something I know. War is something I do not. He knew both.
So, in honor of Carl and the other men and women in uniform who have lost their lives, whether in combat or due to illnesses related to their service, I pay my respects.
One thing about me…
When I need to lower my blood pressure, or take some deep breaths (like I do now), I close my eyes and go to my ‘safe space’ - the beach. Specifically, Eagle Beach in Aruba.
After that trip to San Francisco, we flew to other parts of the world on vacation. Aruba became our favorite spot.
I’ll leave you with my image…
Be well,
Hey Amber ☕☕ may you find new and old followers here
Welcome to SubStack! I love it here.