The Elders Who Found Me: The gifts I never knew I missed.

Finding the roadmap to aging gracefully.

For fifty years, I walked a path I thought was complete. I didn't realize I was

navigating by a map with one of the most important landmarks missing until

the women who would become my elders and mentors stepped out from

the shadows to find me.

Growing up without grandparents or elders of any kind, it was not until

these women entered my life over a period of 15 years that I began to learn

some very valuable and important life lessons.

I was accepted with such kindness and made to feel complete and whole

that I began to see myself through their eyes. I started the journey of

self-love and self-compassion, and they taught me that the threshold of

getting older was not one of judgement but of homecoming.

There was an immense sense of relief, of finally being “seen” and “held” in

a sacred circle of Feminine Wisdom.

Even with numerous large life transitions and having seen much of the

world, I felt nervous about change and wasn't seeking major alterations in

my life. These women showed me that curiosity and a spirit of adventure

have no age limit. My life changed, and I realized every age is a new

frontier with a sense of “What's next?”

A fabulous lesson involved releasing the requirement for perfection and

acceptance. I think this comes with age, but also being surrounded by

elders who know how to laugh at oneself and the particular fun and trials of

aging. These women did not just give advice; they provided a “steadying

hand” as I made the crossing into the second half of my life.

Perhaps the greatest gift they gave me was that they simply were. Their

lives were the map. It showed me that being an older woman came with the

incredible freedom to be who I really am and to continue the journey of

discovering more about myself and the world around me.

I hope you will join me on this journey and we will navigate it together.