Memories of Halcyon: A Love Letter to My Childhood Home''HALCYON DefinitionA period of time in the past, that was happy and peaceful.I’d like to tell a story about my HALCYON days. My parents bought this property five months before I was born. So I lived here all my life until I went off to college. Then soon after that, I married, but did not move too far.''   My early recollections are of being outside all the time playing in the spring, summer, and fall, and sledding in the winter time. We didn’t have air-conditioning so we played outside all day. And we were very creative when playing outside.  We made tree forts on the ground, inside the pine trees. We had a playhouse that my Grandfather and my Dad and my Uncle built when I was five years old that still stands on the property today... 03/19/2025

Years ago, I had the opportunity to hear Ann Kaiser Stearns speak; her insights left a lasting impression on me. Ann is the author of "Coming Back: Rebuilding Lives after Crisis and Loss," published in 1989.                           Through her work with people navigating loss and tragedy—like death, divorce, and illness—she identified three distinct responses to these challenges.-The first group consists of individuals who remain stuck. They struggle to move forward and often find themselves mired in their circumstances. -The second group manages to return to their normal routines after their tragedies, picking up the pieces without much long-term change. The third group, the Triumphant Survivors, truly resonates with me. These individuals face their challenges head-on and emerge stro... 03/21/2025