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Every day when my husband goes for his walk, I tell him ”Talk to a stranger”. I tell him this because he doesn’t talk much and I want to encourage him to interact.

I am embarrassed to say how many times that I don’t talk to a stranger. Could I learn from this person.? Maybe this person has something to share with me that would make us both benefit. Or I didn’t talk to someone because they didn’t fit my idea of who I wanted to be friends with. How petty and limiting. And self centered.

I’m open to new experiences, so why not new people. If I am going to make this life changing move to Israel, I have to put myself out and talk to that stranger. I have to be ready for the person that I approach , not to want to talk to me. Since I have empowered myself, I can take that.

It’s never too late to take that step and approach that stranger because we really do want to know each other. Just some times we don’t know how.

I was looking through my address book. I’ve had it for a very long time. Some of the people who I have in it , have passed away, or I don’t use the services of some of the numbers, or we have new doctors in a new place. What I chuckled at was the number of telephone numbers that I have for our 4 children. College phone numbers. First apartment numbers, entry level job numbers, first apartments with spouses numbers, then new home numbers followed by career change numbers and more new numbers. I am running out of lines in the “U” section of my little address book. But now with cell phones, one number can last as long as you want it. That is progress. It’s never too late for me to put a new number on my speed dial, since I gave up trying to remember those numbers years ago.

There was a time when I would choose the color of our new car and the man of the house would pick the car. We purchased a car, once because it fit in our garage ! We had an overhead type of door that you had to get out of the car to open and then close. The car was a VW bus. We had so much fun with that car.We also had some scary times,traveling through the Delta country in a foreign "hippy" bus.

I bought the car we are driving now. It was purchased with about as much thought as the bus. We needed 7 seat belts for our 5 Grandsons. This has been a fun car too . We do have a slight problem with this car,we have the ashes of our Charlie Two under the seat. He wasn't that settled in Paradise when he died and I am not sure where to let him rest.We sold our cottage where we had our pet cemetary. It's never too late for me to give Charlie Two a final resting place, because I don't think he will get past security when we leave for Israel.

What goes around,comes around.Or, may the circle be unbroken.And B'shirit(spell check not available for this word) Or,it was meant to be. Coincidence ? All of these words can apply to a wedding we attended this day.The two main characters dated in high school, many years ago. They had a special bond. What made them go their separate ways, have different lives,then years later come together and just glow with happiness . I don't know. It makes a great love story and every bit of it is true. Is it God's plan ? Is it meant to have two people reconnect and make not only themselves happy , but make themselves a family? It is never too late to celebrate life with your soul mate and to make a room full of people happy to share this day with you.

I've been a dog owner since I was 10 years old.Every dog was a rescue dog and everyone a character,usually with some social problems. I've heard that pet owners can begin looking like their pets. I wonder which one I look like. My first pet was a black cocker spaniel that we named Inkey after the Ink Spots .Inkey bit my Mother,often.Our best dog was the late ,great Wally.We always refer to him that way.He was a shepard-chow mix.He was shaped like a bowling pin. Wally had a police record. He courted a pedigree poodle and our insurance company had to pay the Vet bill and for the screen porch that Wally jumped through to get to the poodle.We had the original Charlie while we lived in the high rise. He loved the elevator as much as I did. He met his friends in the service elevator several times a day.When he died,his obit was posted in the elevator. I don't think he looked like anyone in the family.Charlie Two was given that name in hopes that his master could remember his name,since long term memory is a pretty long lasting skill.I think Charlie Two resented getting a second hand name, because he bit his master, a lot.Charlie Two had coloring similar to mine ,sorta blond.

We now have our sweetest dog, Cricket .No hang ups,no history of abuse, Maybe she and I have the most in common as far as looks.Cricket was given to us by a Rabbi, so we know she is Jewish. That is important because it is never too late to start teaching her Hebrew so she can make Aliyah with us. How do you say "all right already,stop barking" in Hebrew ?

                    NOVEMBER  4            

I met my running buddies every Saturday morning for a long run and then breakfast, for over 20 years.That was part of my Shabbat. Once ,my Rabbi asked why I didn't attend Saturday morning services,I said that was the time that I meet with my support group . He never asked again.I realized that he thought that I was in a therapy group! And I did  think of my group of running friends as my support . I can't think of a time when they weren't there .My being with them was my special time and it was my Shabbat. It was my time,the time that I wasn't on the clock.

My support team in Chicago is still special to me, only now, I have a newer group of support. And no disrespect to my running friends,I am really happy and comfortable with my new family of friends.To paraphrase an old expression, we are all strangers in a strange land and we need each other.That's what living in Paradise does to you. It makes you appreciate how important your family of choice is .It is never too late to know that your heart is large enough to embrace many friends and love them all.

   (I am using a different format. Each new entry will follow the  last one. I hope this works. Stay tuned)