Moving on.

So here’s the deal, it’s a new year and I’ve decided to keep on blogging.

The question is how. I devoted 2024 to all thoughts Mike who passed from this life July 13, 2023. I miss him greatly, and I know I’m still grieving the loss of him because I don’t want to forget him (grief at work). But life goes on. When I first introduced this blog, it was all about longevity, living a long, very full life. I still want to do that, but now I’m doing it on my own.

Living the solo life, and living it well is not something new. Lots of people do it very successfully. There’s a lot I can learn from them. I can also learn on my own and write about the process. That’s my plan at least. It will still be kateslonglivedlife with the same focus. But I have discovered that I look at life through a different lens now. I’m reaching out for new and different things than if Mike were still here. I know there will be times I still reflect on our life together, but I’m also searching for a new direction on this solo path. Yesterday, I received a text message from a dear friend who told me she was so proud of how I’ve been handling life since Mike passed. I really appreciated that, but it was sort of ironic because earlier in the day, when we’d received our first snowfall of the season and I was snowed in, I’d spent the better part of the day looking at memories of Mike. I sobbed my eyes out. Oh, the ups and downs of the grieving process and life.

I hope you’ll occasionally join me on this journey. And if you do, I’ll welcome your comments and feedback. We can learn from each other. I also promise the blog will be easier to navigate due in large part to the Christmas present from my family. They’ve hired a consultant to teach me skills about designing the blog and making it more user-friendly and accessible.

So full speed ahead in blogging and living in 2025.