About

Welcome to Writing Life Matters (My Life After Kids).

I think of this blog as my notebook where I share the stories of my family, my lifestyle, my empty nest transition, and finding myself on the other side of that transition. These stories connect my family’s past, present and future.

In the last few years, time and space have opened and allowed me to rekindle my love of writing. As I’ve explored my interests, my focus keeps coming back to legacy writing and how it is so much more than a simple record of historical fact.

I’m not sure if I chose legacy writing or it chose me. I am lucky. My dad enjoyed writing and I cherish his many reflections and stories. My mom left writing I encouraged from her only a few years before she passed. I know the joy of holding their thoughts in my hands and feel their presence when I read their words.

It is through story, handed down from generation to generation, that we satisfy our sense of belonging and discern our identities. We choose the best lessons from our ancestors and apply them to our own lives to become all that we do or do not want to be.

To write is to create legacy, one of the best gifts we can give our children.

So far, I’ve posted stories about what I’ve learned –

As a mother.
As an empty nester.
While living away from home part of each year, our “temporary lifestyle.” And now, officially, as a 60 something, retired woman still learning and finding her way.

In the process of sharing, I hope to inspire you to write some of your own legacy pieces. Your family would love them.

I reside in Alberta, Canada. Due to a leap of faith in 2011, I lived six months per year in Slave Lake, for a few years, after two summers in Fort McMurray during what I called My Temporary Life. As of 2017,  I’m back in Calgary full-time and navigating this next stage of life – after kids and into my third act.

I’m an avid journal writer and Certified Legacy Facilitator with Rachael Freed of Life Legacies. Many of my posts have been inspired by a simple journal entry.

I love coaching others on how to get the most our their journals. I am energized by quiet time but sing really loud when alone in my car. My ultimate goals are to connect family with writing, share how “writing life matters”, and to love in whatever form that takes.