after three years ~ Bubba

Grief never goes away.

It lingers in your heart long after it descends upon you.

At first, it is overwhelming.

You go to a place you have never been before.

At that time, three years ago, I was in disbelief,

denial they call it,

nothing was the same,

everything had changed in my world.

I was surrounded by friends and family,

but was completely alone.

Nothing made sense.

I must have appeared to all around me as a walking zombie.

As the days passed and the people went home and I was alone,

reality set in.

Bubba was gone and I would have to either give up,

sit down and do nothing ever again,

cry and lament my loss in a sea of depression,

live in fear of the unknown,

complain and grumble about my fate,

wallow in the sea of unbelief or...

find a way to live again.

At the time, neither choice seemed to make any sense.

I knew I couldn't give up.

But, I didn't seem able to move forward either.

I was stuck in the chaos of a brain that had gone numb.

I couldn't read ~ my passion.

I wasn't able to make a decision on which way to proceed.

Then Covid hit.

Fear.

Isolation.

No Church services.

No fellowship.

Completely and utterly alone most of the time.

To be continued...

 

a truth I hold onto...

God is working for my good in the death of my husband because I love Him.

💗

 

jewels shining on the ocean

Dark night lit up by a gorgeous moon.

All of the cruise ships are headed back home.

Happy, contented passengers will have one more night to be rocked to sleep.

What a joy our trip turned out to be!

It is hard for me to even put words to the reality of our seven nights at sea.

I wondered if a soon to be 75 year old could navigate such a huge floating vessel.

Thankfully, I found my wings and became young again.

Something magical happens when you step on a big ship.

You are not earthbound anymore.

You develop a new way of walking.

You rock back and forth.

Your gait is different.

Almost immediately the stress of life seems to disappear.

You are somewhere else doing something different.

You are lighter, freer.

The ocean mesmerizes my soul.

Its power overwhelms my senses.

I can't understand it.

It soothes and comforts my tired mind.

It boosts my energy.

It strengthens my faith In God.

Thank You, Lord, for the blessing of this trip and this time with Amanda.

I've stored these memories in my heart and mind to be looked back on and remembered.

💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙

Here ends my rather extensive travelogue of our travels on the high seas.

I have gathered and edited my pictures into a semblance of order.

I have written my thoughts from day one.

Now to write a short, concise article on the joys of cruising.

 

girl trip ~ so amazing

One of our most favorite things.

Amanda and I are early to bed ~ early to rise girls.

Every night we ordered room service to be delivered at 6:00 AM.

Every morning at 6:00 AM there was a tap ~ tap ~ at our cabin door.

Two pots of coffee,

half and half,

sugar,

and a plate full of croissants and danish appeared.

We set up on the balcony,

sometimes just as the sun was rising.

This, my friends, is just the absolute best part of the day.

Drinking coffee and watching the sun come up while gazing upon the ocean.

It just doesn't get much better than that.

Most nights we chose to dine in the big dining room.

One night we decided to go to the highly acclaimed Italian restaurant.

It was delicious.

A smaller more intimate dining experience in a beautiful setting.

Cathy and the Flamingo.

🦩🦩🦩🦩🦩🦩🦩🦩🦩🦩🦩🦩🦩🦩🦩

Every day we had at least two of these soft-serve ice cream cones.

After lunch and a late afternoon snack.

Indulgence for sure.

Day and night.

A great perspective on our location.

A long way from home.

Picture taken from the ferry boat we took to St. John.

Back at St. Thomas.

Our room was way in the front right under the bridge.

How about those classy lifeboats?

I searched the clouds for hearts all week.

This is the only one I saw...

floating over Cuba.

It's upside down but that's okay. 

Hearts are hearts wherever you see them

💙

 

donkeys and root beer and funny looking eyes and a beautiful blouse

We never really mastered our selfies.

Somehow it's hard to know what to do with your eyes.

I like root beer. 

This one is made in St. John.

It was quite good.

Outdoor cafe for lunch ~ local characters running the place.

Quite a show ~ great food.

We chose well.

The tale behind the donkeys.

In past years before the modern era there were many plantations on St. John Island.

The plantation owners used donkeys to help with the heavy workload.

When the plantation owners finally moved away from the island,

they left their donkeys behind.

The donkeys remain on the island to this day.

They, of course, are the offspring of the original donkeys.

They roam freely all over the island.

 St. John is well-known for its donkey population.

My one big splurge in St. John!

It caught my eye when we sat down to eat lunch.

A shop called Lulee.

That's what David calls our Lu sometimes.

I couldn't wait to finish up eating and go in.

It was my dream shop.

I love all things linen and ruffles and bows.

I wanted everything in the store.

Okay, Cathy, you can buy one thing, just one.

(Bubba speaking)

This blouse ~ 100% Linen.

Ruffles around the neck, with a bow to tie in the front.

Gorgeous long sleeves with bows to tie around the wrist.

I knew the minute I saw it.

It had to be mine.

I wore it to the second elegant night on our cruise with a long, black, pencil skirt.

Perfect.

It was made for me.

I have to take another cruise to get back to Lulee.

😉

The moon the night I wore my most beautiful shirt.

★☆✴⋆✬🌟

 

last port of call ~ thursday

In this port, Amanda and I decided to do something really wild.

We both love St.Thomas but I'd always wanted to go to the island of St.John.

Getting there required that we ride on a ferry for about 45 minutes to parts unknown.

Leaving the port where our ship was docked was a little scary.

Being two girls alone,

 would this be a wise decision?

Yes, Let's do it.

We did!

We sailed into the port of St. Thomas very early on Thursday morning.

It was still so beautiful, just like I remembered it to be.

While waiting for the 10:30 ferry we got to roam around the outside of the massive ship.

Seeing it close-up made me feel very small.

The ride over to St. Johns was exhilarating.

Our boat captain pointed out the sites along the way. 

The sun was shining brightly and the wind was blowing our hair around.

This was definitely a highlight of the cruise and I highly recommend this excursion.

We were on our own on the island.

After being warned to be back on the ferry at 2:00,

we set out to find a lunch spot and see what we could find.

The first shop we stopped at was a T-shirt shop.

I wanted something made in St. John.

I decided on the donkey shirt because I loved the colors.

Just before it was time to leave the island,

Amanda decided she wanted a T-shirt too.

She bought one just like mine.

We wore them to dinner on the last night of our cruise.

Here we are on the crystal stairway.

We made it back to the ferry in time.

We made it back to the Celebration before it left the port.

We made it!

Two girls alone on a Caribbean Island.

In fact, that night the ship was very late leaving again.

There was another medical emergency.

The moon that night.

Hiding behind the clouds.

A tiny blue cross.

I 💗 You Lord Jesus.

 

i love puerto rico ~ part 2

I found a man I kinda liked sitting on a bench in the town square.

Things hanging around my neck...

1. My camera,

2. My 'Bagilini" travel purse,

3. That all-important card that lets you on and off the ship.

Without it, you are left in limbo on a Caribbean Island as the ship sails without you.

Would that really be a bad thing?

Amanda kinda liked him too.

We named him Pedro.

This pigeon left the pack and mounted himself on top of a statue.

Look how fat he is!

Gelato shop on the town square.

We said no to this treat because of the pina coladas.

When we finally got off the ship in Puerto Rico,

I was amazed to see how huge the "Celebration" is.

She is a magnificent ship.

This ancient arch!

No historical marker to tell of. it's history.

Maybe it was an entrance to the city as it is right on the water.

On our way to get back on the ship, we noticed a vendor tent that looked interesting.

We had seen it when we were heading into town but didn't stop.

The young man had made these lovely two-inch letters out of concrete.

I bought HOPE and Amanda bought LOVE.

Money well spent.

Jesus is my only Hope,

I live on Hope Lane,

My church is Hope Bible Church.

Hope is my word.

How could I pass these up?

Leaving Puerto Rico.

Dressed and heading to dinner.

It was the best of days!

I 💗Puerto Rico so much!

 

i love puerto rico

We had a later arrival in Puerto Rico.

Always excited about this port.

We decided to grab an early lunch on the ship and spend the afternoon in Old San Juan.

Very busy place with lots of other ships.

We docked right beside the "Wonder of the Seas,"

She is the largest cruise ship afloat.

She sails with the Royal Caribbean fleet.

We were so glad to be in San Juan.

This was on our TV screen as we pulled into port.

The colorful and beautiful architecture intrigues me.

The pigeons.

They didn't attack me this time because I didn't buy food for them.

Lesson learned...they only care about me when I feed them.

The non-alcholic pina coladas.

Filled with pineapple and coconut and a cherry on top.

So refreshing on a hot winter day.

Sitting in the town square enjoying the luscious fruity drink.

Afternoon treat/ pick-me-up.

Someone recommended Barrachina as the place to get the best pina colada in Puerto Rico.

It did not disappoint.

We had to wait a while but it was worth it.

Pigeon ribbons.

Puerto Rico is filled with vibrant colors and interesting history.

It is the perfect place to walk around and enjoy all of the sights and sounds.

More to come from Puerto Rico.

 

day 2~ amber cove / dominican republic

First port of call on our cruise.

Getting deep into the Caribbean Sea,

down where the water is so beautiful it takes your breath away.

This is the port where Bubba did his infamous zip line escapade.

Amanda and I didn't get off the boat.

Why you may ask?

This was the day I got to have my interview with our cruise director.

We met in the ship's beautiful coffee shop the Java Cafe.

The cruise director is the person who heads up all of the "FUN" on the ship.

He is British.

We talked for an hour.

I could have listened to him talk all day.

He told us, (Amanda went with me),

 all about the "Celebration," the newest and largest ship" in the Carnival fleet.

He told us what made him decide to become a cruise director.

He told us about his Mom and his Nan and his girlfriend.

She travels with him on the ship.

She is a dancer.

Every time he made an announcement over the speaker system after speaking with him,

I felt like he was my personal friend.

Such a neat thing to get to do.

 We hadn't touched land for two days.

After the interview,

 we were kinda giddy.

the ship was practically empty,

most everyone had gotten off at Amber Cove.

So,

 we got ourselves 4 big yellow cozy beach towels,

found lounge chairs at the top and front of the boat,

  and settled in to read and soak up the sun.

I loved these maps on our TV showing exactly where we were at any given time.

It told how many miles we had traveled, and how fast we were going,

but not the time.

There are no clocks on a cruise.

We didn't look or listen to any "news" for over a week.

I had no knowledge of the "spy balloon" incident until it was shot down in South Carolina.

Amanda was on the balcony just before we headed down to dinner.

Something had caught her eye as we were leaving the port.

No cooking, no dishwashing, no grocery shopping.

You just go get whatever you want to eat when you feel hungry.

Evening dinner is always kinda fancy in the big dining room.

There are two elegant nights when you "dress up."

The service is impeccable.

There are three courses...

appetizer, entree, and dessert.

Oh, and coffee, always hot steaming coffee.

Happy Valentines Day!

The room steward always makes a little surprise out of towels and leaves it on your bed.

They make you feel very special.

💗

 

roses and birthday parties and the people I love

Yesterday was my birthday!

I was in the nursery at church playing with a baby.

Lucy came through the door carrying a big bouquet of my favorite roses.

Then we discovered that we had dressed alike for my big day.

I loved carrying the bouquet into the church because then everyone knew it was my birthday.

I 💗 Lucy!

We decided to go out to dinner for my big day but we kept getting thwarted.

Pearls burned completely down so we decided to go to Bellas.

Bellas was closed for the Super Bowl.

Plan 2 was to go to Bow Ties.

Bow Ties also decided to close because of the Super Bowl.

The third choice was the charm.

We landed at Driftaway.

It was delicious.

Then back to the Cleland home for cake and present opening.

Everybody is smiling.

We had such a good time celebrating my 75th birthday.

On Saturday Sally invited me to a "Galentine's " party.

I came home with this most beautiful rose.

I've named it Sally's rose.

Such a fun time with great food and fellowship,

 a red velvet cake with candles for me.

(only three)

I am one blessed girl.

I'm not sad at all to be so old.

I'm closer to heaven than I've ever been.

I had a lovely birthday cruise with Amanda.

The whole weekend was filled with love and laughter,

good food and beautiful things,

and the people I love the most in this world.

Praise God from whom all blessings flow!!!