A Walk in the Trees

We took a long planned and discussed family vacation this past month - which turned out for all of us that could attend to be a trip we will long remember. To Lee Vining a sleepy little town on the eastern side of the Sierra Nevada which was the first home to our Aita (father) and many, many Basque men who traveled from their cherished home to a new life in the United States.

Down a dusty road off Hwy 395, past one of the original camp sites where our father had tended his band of sheep at 19 years old after trailing (walking) them from Bakersfield in 1950 and 1951. Towards a grove of Aspens where he and many others - including us - had carved their names.

To a locked gate...our scout reported...but there was a well worn trail around the gate...

so off we went to find our past.

And find it we did...next to a babbling stream...just as we had remembered.

My father and his godson found the one he had carved in 1950 with him name.

He added his name again in 1984 "To make sure they know this guy is still around."

 

Our tree

My sister Jenny and Aita having lunch and a chat

 

A lovely picnic of Basque Sausage sandwiches, Sheep's Milk Cheese, and wine...was perfect

Our son, Pierre, having some cheese with his Aita

After lunch there was time for a little fishing.....

A grandfather to granddaughter chat....

Leaving a few more memories for future generations to explore....

Then it was time to call it a day....

a perfect afternoon full of life's simple pleasures

with some of my most favorite people on the planet~!

The Journey

It's been a long time since I have blogged....but now the time has come and I am excited to share some of my life, thoughts, and "finds"again with all of you. The last 18 months have been a bit of a struggle personally. Being diagnosed with a recurrence of breast cancer really came out of left field and rocked my world...big time. But, as in all things, along with the bad...there is always some good. This period of time has made me reevaluate some things in my life and look a little deeper into who I am and who I have become. I have come to realize that I am not the same woman that I was in February 2004, when I was first diagnosed with BC....I took the fight personally....it was ON....and I had no doubts that I would win. But once the chemo was done, the radiation completed, my hair and body began to return to it's old norm.....I was left feeling not quite right in my own skin.

So I dove into new endeavors.....was so busy working full-time and running a second business that, now when I look back on it....I didn't have time to look a little deeper into myself. But in the meantime this was working for me.....and I think, for me anyway....it took time to be ready. Absolutely I don't regret doing any of the things I did during this time, the great people I met, or any experiences that I had.

But when a case of pneumonia, due to a doctor who was very vigilant and I will never forget, turned into a recurrence of the dreaded Big C, which all coincided with the decision to close my secondary business....did I begin to take the time to look a bit deeper at myself and do some research into how cancer affects you after your have waged the war.

How could this have happened?? All my test were good, no signs - low tumor markers, nothing in the initial tests, I went religiously for my check ups....so this definitely was a shock to say the least. Now don't get me wrong, I certainly thought "Why me?" But as I laid in the hospital.....I quickly began to think "Why NOT me?" What made me different from all the thousands of people who had the same hopes and dreams of being cancer free and "cured" for the rest of their lives. A very good team of doctor's, who I have put my life in their hands, have reassured me the cancer has not spread and with proper medication I should still live a long life....but it is unsettling none the less. So I began my "Journey" to look a little deeper, found some great websites, blogs, fb pages that all were about women and men like me who were finding that they were not the same person that they had been when this battle began.....Wow, I was "normal" after all.....or as "normal" as Maitecha can be. The pieces of the puzzle started to come together...and although it is far from finished...with the help of God, my fabulous friends and family...it's coming together nicely these days.

I have a very good friend who does a fabulous job with her blog and tried to encourage me to blog again...but I just didn't have it in my....well the time has come.....more to follow......

The Gift of Friendship

A few weeks ago I got a package in the mail from a dear friend in San Francisco. Always a nice surprise to receive something good in the mail....not just bills and junk~! I was touched to find inside a book "The Girls from Ames" by Jeffrey Zaslow and a very sweet note about how she found the book very inspiring and that it brought to mind a great bond that we have. Really have not read much in the last few year...love to read...but just a bit much on my plate and once I start reading...hate to put it down. And as part of her note she asked me to "Pay It Forward" and pass the book on to another woman who will hopefully find the same connections. The book is basically written by a man who studied the lifetime relationship between a group of 11 women from Ames, Iowa. They were childhood friends who developed a  special bond in childhood growing up in a small town and have continued this friendship and bond into their forties although they are spread all around the country.

Excitedly I started the book and looked forward each evening having some "me" time and reading. The book did have so many ties for me and the relationships between many of the women in my life. Bonds that have only strengthened over the years and are a testament to these women in my life who have always been a constant. A few years ago we started a group called NAGO (North American Gossip Organization), which we generally had our convention once a year as we all gathered from different parts of California for a weekend of catching up and although "gossip" is our mantra....really a way to just bond and be together. Many of us don't even remember meeting officially, we have always been a part of our lives. Some have become friends later in life, but joining the group has it rituals.

The book did not disappoint and on many themes and levels was a real testament to women, our bonds, and strengths.  One of the things the book talks about is how it is easier with today's email and other technologies for this group of women to keep in contact. Email makes it possible for them to email each other and by hitting "Reply to All" everyone in their group is informed.

And now we have facebook...which has brought back together a group of my high school friends in a way that would not have been possible a few years ago. Spread though a number of states and most all of CA, we are able to keep in contact through a simple post. It has been wonderful reconnecting with these women who I have so much in common with many years ago...and now find that in many ways I still do.

So this weekend the book gets "Paid Forward" to a dear friend (and NAGO member) who will hopefully do the same and I plan to send a copy to another woman to hopefully give another friend a sweet mail box surprise~! Thanks Nicole...it was perfect~!!