I have enjoyed greatly the second blooming …
Suddenly, you find, at the age of fifty, say—
that a whole new life has opened before you.
~ Agatha Christie

I did find that in my 50s and 60s. I was a grandma for the first time. I retired to write all the things I had been training my whole life to write. We traveled. I dug deeply into the Bible to understand its stories also historically. I gave myself permission to follow my passions—and my husband cheered me on.

And I also entered the time of caring for aging parents. I’d lost my dad in my 40s—a year of all siblings flying back to CA to help Mom with his care. Then John’s folks living close, and passing away. My mother’s need to move out of her house, and her death last year. These are not situations I realized were coming my way—at least I didn’t spend time worrying about them or thinking ahead. But, what a time of growth they were.

And then the 70s arrived, and with it a body that expresses its aging in a variety of ways. I am not finding a third “physical blooming” or an opening of new, yet-unexplored doorways to leap through. However, I am focusing my writing passion as an ambassador to this world for God.

And I am experiencing a spiritual blooming. Who am I really? What do I really believe to be true about God? What is my only comfort in life and in death?

And it is good. And I am content.