THE WRITINGS OF A WANDERING WIDOW: It's A Beautiful Day In The Neighborhood!

I discovered a time machine! What? No!
It doesn’t send me back in time. The device doesn’t transport me to the future either. My new breakthrough has propelled me into a realm in which few people choose to go, and if they do, they rarely stay. It is called …. The Present.

When I live in The Present, I reside in a neighborhood in which time seems to stand still and yet passes unawares. I call it THE EDGE.

Stepping up to THE EDGE with both feet makes it impossible to focus on yesterday’s should haves, would haves, or could haves. With my feet planted firmly in the ‘right now,’ my toes curling around THE EDGE, there is no room for me to consider the what ifs or the questions of when or how.

Years ago, after I rescued Sportster, I became intrigued with his “neighborhood of the woods.” Every day he showed me how beautiful a day could be within his stomping grounds. I imagined him singing Mr. Rogers’ song, “It’s a beautiful day in the neighborhood. Won’t you please be my neighbor? Would you be mine?” He didn't sleeep bothered by his past, nor did he worry about what his may future hold. I never observe him lying awake worrying about whether he is “good enough.”

As I travel more, I have become aware of Mother nature’s neighborhood, in which Sportster’s is only a suburb. Mother nature holds the past in her tree bark and the future in the desert’s blossoms. She stands before me, silent and self-assured. She cannot talk but her gestures are grand. Mother nature just IS.

Living in nature’s neighborhood, I can embrace the unending rhythm her ocean’s breathing and float with her drifting sands. Like Sportster on a sleepy Sunday morning, I can let go of time. And like magic, time becomes bountiful.

Are you ready? Hop into your own time machine. Press the “on button” labeled ‘Let Go.”

Plug in! Fire up! Absorb the powerful energy of nature’s mountain ranges, the dominion of the waterfalls,

or the vast landscapes of the desert.

Hang on! The enchanting ride will transport you into the bewitching realm of unlimited time. You may feel small and vulnerable -- a stranger in their neighborhood, but if you stay for a while, you will burst with a unique power in which all the money in the world cannot buy, nor can all the powers of governments take away.

“It’s a beautiful day in the neighborhood. Won’t you please be my neighbor? …”

Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

The death of Judy Howard’s husband gave the author a wake up call. Life is short. Howard sold her pet grooming business, which she had operated since the age of eleven and engaged full throttle into her new passions of writing and traveling.

Judy Howard’s writing career expands across many genres, including memoir, romantic mystery, reality fiction, travel and young adult, and now with THE GRIEVING GIFT, an autobiographical novel.

In all of Howard’s books the theme is always the same - overcoming life’s difficulties.

Judy lives full-time in her Winnebago motorhome with her cat, Sportster, traveling across the country as a motivational speaker and offering writing seminars.

When Judy and Sportster are not traveling, they spend their time in Sun City, California.

THE GRIEVING GIFT

Janice’s older sister, Margaret, wanted to believe that the L.A. doctors at Cedars Sinai Medical Center held a magical deck of cards, but after eight years of treatment they dealt their final card. The Hospice card. No miracles for Margaret. Janice reassures her big sister she will be there, holding her hand every step of the way.

On a death watch, you get to know things about a person you wish you didn’t. It is like a roller coaster ride. And like most rides, it brings us back to the place we began, reminding us of who we were and who we have become.

The twists and turns of Janice’s emotional journey transports her back through the repercussions of her teen pregnancy and into the present estrangement from her daughter, whom she has not heard from for the last sixteen years.

Coming to terms with the grief of losing her sweet Margaret, and dealing with her fear of a lonely future is too much for Janice to imagine. When Margaret’s soul goes to rest in L.A. heaven, how will Janice face the emptiness? Will there be such a thing as a Grieving Gift?

Click on the link below to find out more about Judy's books.