Countryside Calmness

 A year has passed since we left the Connecticut seaside and planted new roots in the countryside of central PA. What a year it has been! Five months Michael and I shared living space with my mom who was most generous while our house was under construction. Not every moment was easy and without conflict, but we learned, with much grace, that love and flexibility were the keys for a smooth transition.  

Winter, spring, and now summer have presented a new, calm rhythm and flow as we center ourselves in the green, lush farmlands, mountains, and open space of Boiling Springs, PA.  The not so long ago hustle and bustle of the CT shoreline is now being replaced with a more laid back pace. Lovely impromptu visits with friends and neighbors are easily welcomed, and Michael and I realize the timing of our move seems "perfect" for this next season of our lives. However, the friendships we grew and nurtured in CT remain ever close in our hearts.

Our new community in which we reside is full of friendly neighbors who are eager to chat and gather at a moment's notice.  Mike and I are learning the ins and outs of grilling homemade pizzas with our outside pizza grill so that we can offer some fun yummy treats with everyone (that is when we don't burn them)! Sharing time with life long friends is extra special in every possible way. Living much closer to family (almost everyone) bestows a great blessing upon our lives.  

Unfortunately, adapting to the unpredictable weather and storm patterns as well as the central PA heat and humidity has not been easy on my migraine body.  People are kindly inquiring if I "feel better" living here, but this is not the case.  I am grateful for my new headache specialist who is wonderful, but we have work to do yet.  More climbing my Matterhorn for sure!

I will remain an active migraine advocate while living here offering HOPE to others through education and my own personal experience. I am honored to do so as my own healing journey continues. 

"Harvesting healing is always a continuing journey because it springs up from deep within a soul. We must set an intention of moving forward no matter what and accepting the day for what it brings. It means accepting the good with the bad and the indifferent. It means looking at our precious chronic illness through the lens of a strong warrior because we can do hard things."

                                                  Lisa Aleo

                                                   Climbing My Matterhorn, My story of                                                                           meningitis, migraine, and miracles

Spring Awakening

Since we have recently entered the anticipated season of spring, I found a lovely poem by my favorite author, John O'Donohue, from his book "To Bless the Space Between Us:A Book of Blessings."

"Within the grip of winter, it is almost impossible to imagine the spring. The gray perished landscape is shorn of color. Only bleakness meets the eye; everything seems severe and edged. Winter is the oldest season; it has some quality of the absolute. Yet beneath the surface of winter, the miracle of spring is already in preparation; the cold is relenting; seeds are wakening up. Colors are beginning to imagine how they will return. Then, imperceptibly, somewhere one bud opens and the symphony of renewal is no longer reversible. From the black heart of winter a miraculous, breathing plentitude of color emerges.

The beauty of nature insists on taking its time. Everything is prepared. Nothing is rushed. The rhythm of emergence is a gradual slow beat always inching its way forward; change remains faithful to itself until the new unfolds in the full confidence of true arrival. Because nothing is abrupt, the beginning of spring nearly always catches us unaware. It is there before we see it; and then we can look nowhere without seeing it."

For me, the longer days of light, warmer temperatures, the assurance of blossoms and new growth, and the varied songs of the birds, give me joy and confidence that the rhythm of nature becomes awake inside my soul. 

What is your favorite sign of spring?

My pretty tulips and pansies from our garden in East Lyme, CT.  They make me smile.

Some beauty from Boiling Springs, Pa.

May we remember to be good stewards of the generous bounty of God's creation.

Lenten nuggets

As Henri Nouwen once wrote, "O Lord, make this Lenten season different from the other ones. Let me find you again. Amen."   Upon reflection----

L---eaning into fully knowing God's deep Love for me

E---xamining my own brokenness and exploring ways to heal that brokenness

N---ever forgetting the power of patience and purposeful waiting to see God's will in         my life

T---hanking God for His everlasting mercy and forgiveness which is never failing

I have decided to share little nuggets of my faith journey this Lenten season. They will be brief and simple compared to some of my previous ones when it seemed like I remained in one big loooooong and complicated Good Friday.  Many of those deep struggles I share in my book. 

This Lenten season may I have the courage and strength to help others walk their unique path of difficulty and questioning by offering my presence in whatever small way I am capable. 

If you would like to share your thoughts, please do so either on my blog directly or as a private message on FB or IG.  Joining with you would be my honor. Let me know how I can pray for you.

May we continue to reach for the light just like these pretty crocuses. 

New year. New home. New beginnings.

 Hello my friends! I have not forgotten my faithful followers! As you may know, the past few months have been delightfully chaotic.  Michael and I moved  from CT to PA in July, and it is crazy to realize we are in February of a new year. Part of the building process seemed long and drawn out, but overall, we crossed the finish line! Hooray!

I thought about blogging many times, but when I tried to sit down and collect my thoughts, I could not stay on task. I did not posses the bandwith to focus. While I write everyday in my journal, those thoughts have remained private for now. My yearning to reach out once again has been tugging at me for some time, so I knew I had to jump back in the saddle soon.

Michael and I are settling into our new lovely place and making it a home. It is our hope it will convey an atmosphere of peace, comfort, and welcome. We invite  friends to stop and say hello, and we would be happy to show you this beautiful area of mountains and farmlands.  

Moving has not been complete without the nuisance of meddling Mr. Migraine. In my fantasy dreams I hoped I could lose him in CT, but of course, my daily reality proves differently. I cannot seem to escape his tenacity of finding me wherever I go. Ugh. I am managing his unwanted presence with the help of medications, rest, yoga and another good headache specialist for which I am grateful. 

I am excited to have my very own professional office space in which to write and continue my migraine advocacy work.  My memoir was written mostly from my bed or the couch in CT, but my "next" book shall come to life in a more proper setting, I hope. 

"New" can feel scary and uncomfortable at times, and I have certainly experienced those feelings over the years to some degree. However, my perspective of new is currently uplifting, fresh, and rewarding. I am settling in quite easily as the familiarity of my surroundings brings joy. 

Sending warm wishes from central PA.

Little did I know when I was in high school this Allenberry sign would be a foreshadowing of my future many years to come. It is truly funny how life turns out. The 1980 picture was taken from my high school yearbook when I was a sophomore.   Yes, I am dating myself...

 

Our Appalachian style home welcomes you.  

My intentional pause

Here it is mid-October, and I find myself taking an intentional pause.  Life has been on a crazy roll since we sold our home and moved to Boiling Springs, PA.  My body and mind desperately need REST.  I cannot go on without renewal and restoration. 

I remain excited about my book publication and the positive reviews from migraine sufferers as well as from my dear friends and family who have been so encouraging along the way.  I know I need to be on top of marketing to a greater degree, but my energy has drained right out of me at a most in opportune time.  I humbly ask my wonderful readers to help by spreading awareness of my book to friends and family.  Thank you.

September 3 was such a joyous day from beginning to end. Our celebration in Illinois was marked by Patrick and Emily's wedding, and I believe there was no greater witness of love.  There was a small scare of a Covid situation right up until the special day, but all turned out well and nothing had to be cancelled.   We all breathed a sigh of relief.

Now true to my usual medical drama, the Saturday before we were to fly out on Tuesday, my lower back decided to go into horrible spams, and I could NOT walk.  I couldn't even turn in bed.  So, long story short, I had to take a little trip to our local ER by ambulance! I felt ridiculous but nothing was giving me relief and I knew I needed intervention or I wouldn't be able to fly.  Talk about an emotional freak out----yep---I had one.  Tests were ordered and thankfully I wasn't brewing anything weird.   I was basically diagnosed with bad muscle spasms.  I gave my sob story of needing "drugs" to anyone who would listen because my son was getting married and I had to fly!!  I got my way, and I went loaded with a pharmacy of pain meds in addition to my pharmacy of migraine meds. I sometimes wonder why traveling can't be EASY.  I look in awe of the people who jump out of bed, pack a suitcase, and then just go!  We laugh at our precarious scenario now, but we were not laughing then.  

The greatest gift was being able to enjoy a long day of celebration without having a M attack.  Not even the hint of one.  Of course, my body was happy on steroids which helped a great deal. Praise God. 

The other medical annoyance I have been dealing with for months has been a very unhappy gallbladder.  I certainly did not want that to act up during our week of celebration, but God kept me strong.  I knew time was ticking before it had to be dealt with, but I tried to ignore it.  I should know by now that approach never works for me.  So, two weeks ago I had another little trip to our local ER to have it removed.  It wasn't waiting for me to decide.  I was so tired from the past few months that I just did not want to deal with another thing.  Oh well...

I am healing, but as I wrote in my Climbing My Matterhorn book, healing is not linear.  It is up and down with what I can eat or not.  As far as post op pain, I really do not have any now.  I had excellent hospital care both stays.  I could not have been more pleased.  

Currently, Mike and I are enjoying watching our house come together with colors, some lighting, and some structural details that make customizing a pleasure.  Now Mike and I feel like our structure certainly looks more like a home.

Here are a few pictures from the wedding as well as our house.  I will continue to update as it continues to make progress.  We still think it may be early December before move in.  I imagine Christmas will be a bit chaotic unpacking boxes and not knowing which end is up.  Just moving into our home will be the greatest gift we could have this year with family around our table. 

A Book, A Move, A Wedding, Oh My!

Three exciting and wonderful events are happening in the Aleo household over the course of weeks and months.  I am in disbelief in a way.  So many "big feels" that it is difficult to process.  

The release of my first book, Climbing My Matterhorn, is a memoir about living with chronic migraine. I collected content from my journals over the past decade. This project took me several years to write, and my main purpose for writing it is to give encouragement and hope for those who suffer not only from migraine disease but any kind of chronic illness while still finding finding joy and fulfillment in one's life.   

The other adventure is our move back to PA after  having lived on the beautiful shoreline of CT.  Saying goodbye to dear friends is emotional, but saying hello to familiar faces and comfort places is heart-warming.  This is our first time building a home, and we are a "tad" bit overwhelmed with the process.  It is exciting to visit the house daily and literally watch every board, nail, and wire, carefully put into place.  There definitely have been glitches along the way but that is to be expected.  Fortunately, we are grateful to be living with my mother who is close to five minutes away from our new community.  This gives us the ability to check on the home easily.

The sale of our lovely CT home went smoothly, and a new young family has chosen to reside there. We are pleased that the process was not complicated which many sellers have to deal with. They will now put their mark on it and make it their own.

Our third anticipated event is our youngest son's wedding in early September, and we could not be more pleased with his beautiful fiancee' and her very lovely family.  We had the pleasure of flying to Illinois recently to spend time with the happy couple and meet her family.  What a blessing! We had a fun time, and were able to share in their lives for a few days. Their wedding date will be our 34th wedding anniversary as well as Patrick's 27th birthday.  Triple celebration for us!

This is by far one of the busiest season of our lives.  Thanking God for His good gifts and blessings! 

https://a.co/d/7gwSMmA

link for book on Amazon

If you would like to order my book for yourself or for someone you know who might need hope and encouragement for their particular chronic illness journey, you can find it on Amazon.  

I would like to offer a special thank you for all my wonderful people who have climbed this mountain with me and who never let me fall for one minute.  The climb has been grueling at times, but I am stronger for it.

 

From Digs to Dreams

 

Last year around this time we purchased new property in central PA to build our retirement dream home.  It has been an exciting year to plan and design a future dwelling place.  It has not been easy to wait for the actual start of the ground breaking because of so many delays and sorting out details, but the slow, unfolding  reality has given us more energy for reflection every step of the way. This is good. In a world where everything and everyone are in a hurry, our personal building process has its own rhythm and flow which is just right for us.  When we set our minds to it, the waiting is doable.

  We wait for the long, dark days of winter to finally move into the lighter days of spring where we can be transformed by nature's beautiful display of rebirth and renewal.  It is always a miracle to witness.  May we never take life of any kind for granted.  Ever.  

We, Christians, wait forty long days of Lent while fasting and praying for the Easter Season to begin.  We are preparing our hearts in different ways to celebrate Jesus' way to the cross and His Rising from the dead so that we may have eternal life.  May we never take this for granted.  Ever. 

Waiting can be a season of darkness and sometimes loneliness, but the gift on the other end of that waiting is full of beauty.  

What dreams are you waiting to come to fulfillment?  More importantly, when have you last allowed yourself to dream?  If so, have you shared those dreams with anyone? 

Take a few moments to dream today...