I’m gonna make this a fast one..
We made it to Florida!
First stop, PALM BEACH!!!
Gosh it felt so good to arrive! The blue-green water of South Florida and the flavor of Miami really fueled that part of me that loves the “get down” part of life!!!
I could definitely live in Palm Beach/Miami!!!
I decided this time I was not going to mess around and pack my own food! Our first stop: Whole Foods. I got my Miso supplies together, my ume boshi plum tea and healthy snacks…not forgetting about “Hi I Hold On To Things”, I bought a really cool little device. It looks like a teakettle but you can remove the lid and use it as a pot to for boiling. It’s an all-in-one hot plate/pot! I got to mixing up my necessities right away, and yes, I’ve been eating out a bit too. Like I was saying, I did not want my own “Hi I Hold On To Things” to run the show so I kept trying to find balance in the world and avoid living in guilty fear of slipping backwards because I ate out. I’m actually really psyched ’cause now I know what is good fo’ ya and what is not…
The best part is that I’m learning to calm myself. I used to think that I could only relax via yoga or a mediation session, but this is not true. Ginny Harper has got me breathing and focusing and let me tell you, it’s SO COOL!!!! Let me tell ya how to do it: I take a breath just deep enough into my belly to bring the air in and then let it out. I’ve even got Lola and Bella doing it! And no, we aren’t some freaky folks making a scene- we are just learning to relax ourselves, something that we aren’t taught to do.
After 4 days in Palm Beach we drove to Orlando and spent two days with my Poppy and Grandma. Poppy just finished Chemo and is really doing well. I love that man so much; the two of them are still great role models for me.
They moved to Florida about 15 years ago when Poppy retired from a steel mill. He and Grandma wanted to escape the brutal winters of the Northeast. My husband calls the place they landed: “A Yankee Trailer Park for Retirees”.
They live in the cutest little house/trailer. They ride their bikes everywhere, swim at the club and now Poppy is rolling a golf cart around. They have friends and activities everyday and a life that matches who they are inside – comfortable.
My Poppy attends mass EVERY morning.
They live within their means: rent for the land is $250 per month, their car is paid off, and their other bills, such as gas & electric, are both under $100 bones a month. They are happy.
Whenever I visit them I am reminded of simplicity: the power of one’s faith that if you believe your life is good enough, then it is…hmmm…
Of course, they were shocked to see me so thin (why so thin- this makes the reader wonder what happened- is this intentional?) , but Lee told them “She used to be in pain 28 out of 30 days, now she is pain free 28 days out of 30. It’s working…”
Grandma was great; she sat in Chemo with Poppy for months and the entire time she was wondering, “Why are we all so sick?”
She was asking questions!
She then showed off her new frying pans – all Eco friendly and healthy!
She went on to tell me that many years ago, in 1953, she bought her current set of stainless steel pots and pans after realizing that the thin aluminum was leaking into her food! (I’m confused about this sentence- which set is the current one? Which one was leaking? Hard to rework the sentence b/c I’m not sure what’s going on)
She said “Those pots were expensive, but I valued our health over anything else. Folks gotta start reorganizing where they place their values.”
Hmmmm..so that’s who I come from? Nice…..
I didn’t want to leave them nor did I want to leave the memory of them. All my life my grandparents hugged and kissed on us and they still do. I climbed into our rented red mini-van and headed North to Jacksonville.

It’s an extremely different world that Lee and I come from.
You see, Lee comes from one of the oldest and, at one time, most powerful families in the South. In fact, he really comes from a bit of a dynasty!
The house is the spitting image of Tara from Gone With The Wind… a home like this doesn’t exist many places anymore. It is decorated with the most beautiful and tasteful items of the Antebellum style, and it sits on the St. Johns River with Spanish Moss draping everything. There is a staff of workers that tend to every specific detail, from the lady who comes only to dust and the other who only waters the plants. There is a cook in the kitchen cooking up some old school food on a daily basis – fried chicken, ham, sweet potatoes, greens, biscuits and there is always a beautiful cake frosted and ready to be sliced.
Idora has been working for Lee’s mother for over 50 years; she’s now close to 95 years old. I’ll never forget the first time I met her: I walked into the kitchen and she was standing at the sink washing and humming. I asked her, “Doe what are you singing?” She responded, “Sugar Lump this is an old slave hymn.”
I was shocked!
Then she schooled me on where she came from “I was born on a Plantation in Georgia. My daddy was a share cropper and my granny was a slave in her time.” Doe is really someone from another world and her stories can hold you captive for hours…I can’t bother you with all of them but in my second book I really uncover the dealio’.
My girls call her Grandma Doe. They don’t know that she’s not their grandma- after all she raised Lee!
Now she sits in the kitchen all day sleeping in her rocker and overseeing the house.

I cooked my “food” today: black-eyed pea Croquettes, brown rice and veggies and Miso soup. I watched her eyeing me while I worked and then she ate it! I thought she might not like it, but she LOVED it! Part of the reason I cooked such a big meal was for the staff. Wanda, the current house cook, had breast cancer and suffers from the radiation. Diane, one of Ms. Pauline’s attendants, (Ms.Pauline is my mother in law) has arthritis & Fibromyalgia (also and autoimmune disease) and her daughter has Crohn’s Disease!

STOP: the kids are getting off of the elevator. They’ve been swimming and I know any second the “Momma help me’s” are coming.