The clock is counting down as I prepare to depart from Cheney, WA. I have a mixture of anticipation and anxiety, mixed with massive, massive amounts of gratitude. I want to try to process all the feelings I am feeling, and share for just a few minutes about Marcia, Randy, and Lauren, as well as their little pup-eroni (R), who have been cornerstones over the last five months.
Marcia is the best of both worlds– she knows how to have a good time, including laughing at herself, but she is also a master at talking me off the cliff. Marcia has an unflappable calm and a gift for being able to look at both sides of an issue and point out your blind spots, which continues to be invaluable to me as I try to answer questions such as, “Where do I want to live? What am I going to do for my ‘second act’? What do I need to do in order for my businesses to grow?
When I start to tailspin, she tell me to keep my head down and continue working, and to give things time to take root and grow. She’ll remind me that even when I might not feel like it’s coming together, that I have a plan and I’m working that plan.
More than anything, she has been the most steadfast, supportive, encouraging safety net I’ve had over the last 3+ years of my life. Because of Marcia, I know that I always have a place to come back to when I find myself adrift in the world.
Their entire household & family has opened up their arms, their home and their heart to me in a way that I can’t even communicate effectively. At the root of that- at the center of all of that, is Marcia. So if you don’t have a Marcia in your life, get one. (You can’t have mine.)
Then there’s Randy, Marcia’s amazing husband. Where do I begin when describing Randy?
Randy cooks dinner most nights. Αnd he gardens- so the salsa, tomato sauces, onions, potatoes and many of the herbs that he cooks with come from the garden (that all three tend). And don’t even get me STARTED on his huckleberry cheesecake! 🤤
He also hunts and fishes. And while Marcia is more than capable, he cheerfully handles all the routine vehicle and household maintenance. When Marcia says, “My vehicle needs new tires” or mentions that something needs attending, Randy gets it done. He takes care of his family without hesitation, without rancor, and without a second thought. And he has graciously extended that same level of care to me.
Protecting and providing for those who matter to him is who he is and how he lives. Those are just a few parts of his character.
I’ll also add that he’s quiet and steadfast, and legitimately one of the smartest people I have ever met on the entire planet. I once told Marcia that Randy is so smart that he doesn’t even realize that when he has a conversation with somebody and ‘dumbs it down’, he’s still talking levels above everyone else’s understanding. It makes me laugh, because he’s so freaking humble. Randy knows he’s smart, but he’s not constantly patting himself on the back about it or making sure everyone else knows it. I don’t know how else to describe Randy, except as extremely intelligent, eternally patient, generous to a fault, and ridiculously calm, so I’ll leave it at that.
Then we have Lauren, who is one of the most energetic septuagenarians I’ve ever met in my entire life. I have zero excuses for why I don’t get up and move my body every day because she moves her body and exercises and stretches every single day, rain or shine. Or, as noted by the massive wind storms we had here, weather does not stop her. She’s like more reliable than the post office, and she’s a workhorse. When the rest of us are having kind of a down day and wanting to lounge, Lauren is always doing something—around the house, in the yard, in the garden, playing with the dog. She is nonstop. Like everybody, she has down days-she’s not an automaton, she’s a real person, but her energy is something I can only aspire to when I hit that age.
And her heart- oh, her heart! Lauren’s heart is bigger than her body. She has a generosity of spirit that she tries to hide, but in reality, it’s just who she is (and we wouldn’t want her any other way!)
And last, but definitely not least, there is the king of the castle, who I affectionately call “pup-eroni”. R is the undisputed center of the household. He is basically the equivalent of a spoiled toddler who is too cute to resist.
It has been an ongoing battle of wills between him and me. When he wants to play with you, you WILL play with him. He will not stop harassing you until you play with him. He has zero qualms about dropping a toy in your lap as a not-so-subtle hint to play with him, and if you do not give him the attention he needs, he will let you know verbally with condemning barks, or with a very direct and pointed stare. The only stare more condemning than his is that of an actual toddler when you take away their toy or candy or tell them, “No.”
And he has this spring in his step, and when he runs—I don’t even know how to describe it. It’s like those people who run and kick their legs together with joy. Sometimes his little legs are kicking up with joy because he’s just a happy, happy little guy, but it’s probably because he knows he’s the most spoiled dog in the entire world. 🐶🐾
THAT is the household, family and community I am leaving as I step out on this next adventure, and I honestly keep asking myself why. Then I remind myself that I have to keep moving to figure out where it is I need to plant myself. Knowing I leave tomorrow is a very bittersweet feeling.
