"With God's Grace Our Worst Past
Becomes Our Best Future"
Becomes Our Best Future"
HAVING THE PRIME OF MY LIFE
LINDA WOOD RONDEAU
AUTHOR/SPEAKER
*A look back
Worsening health concerns meant I had to move eighteen months before hubby could hang up his work hat. So, on February 8, 2011, at 9:00 am, I pulled out of the driveway of our Northern New York home, leaving behind all that was familiar, including my husband of thirty-three years, to play Daniel Boone and forge a new life for us in Jacksonville, Florida.
Hubby visited every few months and I came north to help settle the house. Dating your spouse puts a whole new perspective on marriage. I always considered myself an independent person, until the move. Living alone brought challenges I hadn’t faced since before marriage…like balancing a checkbook, home repairs and killing spiders.
I remember during the early years of our marriage when I awoke in the middle of the night to find a small spider-webbed on the bathroom shelf. Hubby rushed to my aide at the sound of my scream. Love knows when someone is frightened out of their wits.
Steve and me in 1977
How I missed him. The months went by and I looked forward to a time we were no longer “dating” and became a union again.
We bought the house in October 2011, and Hubby still had eight months to go before he would become a true Florida resident. Having never had a screened-in back porch before, I looked forward to sitting outside for my devotions. When my first morning came in the new house, I happily pulled out a chair but gasped at the sight of it. A large, black spider, the size of my balled fist scooted across my patio.
Hubby was 1500 miles away. What’s an arachnoid phobic supposed to do? I grabbed a broom as I screamed hysterically through the house, yelling at my absent husband. “You’re supposed to be here. You’re supposed to kill spiders.” Like the Mad Woman of Borneo, I slammed the spider with my broom, not just once, but at least a dozen times, repeating each time, “Die, I tell you! Die!”
When my rage was spent, the tears flowed. I’d vowed, when Hubby finally made it to Jacksonville, I’d never take him for granted again. The month after he came for good, I was diagnosed with breast cancer. Our retirement plans were put on hold for a long process of treatment. “We will get through this,” he said. “It’s not an end to our journey but merely another bump in the road.”
Fortunately, my prognosis was good. I thanked God he was there with me. I much preferred killing a hundred spiders than face this dreaded disease alone. In sickness and health, the vows said. They don’t list spiders or long periods of separation or chemo brain.
I believe the time we spent dating was a time to reaffirm our love for one another, a prelude to our once again holding hands while we faced a new enemy, one I couldn’t defeat with a broom.
ABOUT LINDA WOOD RONDEAU
Award-winning author, LINDA WOOD RONDEAU writes to demonstrate our worst past, surrendered to God becomes our best future. A veteran social worker, Linda now resides in Hagerstown, Maryland. Readers may visit her web site at www.lindarondeau.com. Contact the author on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Google Plus and Goodreads.
Find out more at www.lindarondeau.com
ABOUT HOSEA’S HEART
How much should a wronged husband forgive?
Aubrey Beaumont has spent the last fifteen years in search of his runaway, drug-addicted wife. Now a respected Silver Spring pastor and chaplain, ready to give up and move on, his life takes unexpected turns when she suddenly contacts him. Terminally ill and having found faith, she begs Aubrey’s forgiveness. How can he overlook her past prostitution and liaison with one of Washington’s most vicious drug lords?
Grateful for a chance at reconciliation, Joanna Beaumont prays that her seemingly wasted life might serve some purpose in her final days. Perhaps her testimony against her former lover’s cartel will bring her the peace she craves.
Joanna and Aubrey’s paths will crisscross the Capital District’s underworld where they discover how God weaves threads of failure into tapestries of hope.
THE YEARS THE LOCUSTS ATE
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PRIME OF MY LIFE
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FULL CIRCLE
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GREEN STUFF AND HUBS
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NOEL: THE CAT WHO CAME FOR CHRISTMAS
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GREEN STUFF MAGIC
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WHEN GRANDMA FORGETS
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HAVE YOU EVER HEARD OF BLUE ZONES?
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FIVE WAYS SENIORS CAN BOOST THEIR IMMUNE SYSTEMS
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IF YOU CAN'T BEAT 'EM JOIN 'EM
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WALKING IN A WRITER'S WONDERLAND
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CREAMING
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LIFE IS THE ADVENTURE
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QUITTING MY DAY JOB
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ADAPT OR DIE
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SAY THANK YOU TO OUR FRIENDS IN BLUE
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THE SWEET COUPLE HOLDING HANDS
7/13/2020 1:00:00 AM by: MELISSA HENDERSON
SURPRISE! SURPRISE! SURPRISE!
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FROM FICTION TO NON-FICTION AND BACK AGAIN
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WHO SAID GROWING OLD IS FUN?
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AND NOT TO YIELD
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MY CULTURAL DISCONNECT
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WHAT IS RETIREMENT
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LOOKING UP OR LOOKING AWAY
5/25/2020 1:00:00 AM by: LINDA WOOD RONDEAU
SEEKING GOD
5/11/2020 1:00:00 AM by: LINDA WOOD RONDEAU
HOW OLD ARE YOU
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IT'S NOT OKAY
4/27/2020 1:00:00 AM by: MARTIN WILES
EMBRACING MY INNER BOOMER
4/20/2020 1:00:00 AM by: BARBARA BRITTON
THE RACE FOR LILY
4/13/2020 1:00:00 AM by: SHERRI STEWART
GRANNY ALICE
4/6/2020 1:00:00 AM by: LYNNE BASHAM TAGAWA
RESILIENCE
3/29/2020 1:00:00 AM by: LINDA WOOD RONDEAU
LIVING WITH CHANGE
3/9/2020 1:00:00 AM by: MARTIN WILES
WHEN THE GROCERY STORE CLERK HAS TO CHECK YOUR AGE
2/24/2020 1:00:00 AM by: MELISSA HENDERSON
THE IMPORTANCE OF CREAMING
2/17/2020 1:00:00 AM by: LINDA WOOD RONDEAU
FRIENDS AT ANY AGE
2/3/2020 1:00:00 AM by: ERIN UNGER
IDENTITY CHECK
1/27/2020 1:00:00 AM by: MARTIN WILES
IF YOU CAN'T BEAT 'EM, JOIN 'EM
1/20/2020 1:00:00 AM by: LINDA WOOD RONDEAU
MY POSSESSIONS MATURE ALONG WITH ME
1/13/2020 1:00:00 AM by: MARIE WATTS
EYES FRONT
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THE TIMES THEY ARE A CHANGING'
12/30/2019 1:00:00 AM by: LINDA WOOD RONDEAU
SANTA'S RELUCTANT HELPER
12/23/2019 1:00:00 AM by: LINDA WOOD RONDEAU
THE PURSUIT OF WEALTH
12/16/2019 1:00:00 AM by: DEBRA COLEMAN JETER
VANQUISHING THE CHRISTMAS BLUES
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GRANDMAS THEN VS GRANDMAS NOW
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TECHNO BLUES
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ADAPT OR DIE
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CREAMING
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When our Get Up and Go Gets Up and Goes
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LIFE IS THE ADVENTURE
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MY LIFE AS A BARCODE
10/21/2019 1:00:00 AM by: LINDA WOOD RONDEAU
THE QUEST FOR THIN
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THE AMERICAN DREAM
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FROM GOLDEN YEARS TO GOLDEN BELLS
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THE CHORDS THAT BIND MY MEMORIES
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JUST BE STILL
9/16/2019 1:00:00 AM by: MARTIN WILES
PRINCE CHARMING, SPIDERS, AND CHEMO
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GRAY IS GRAND
8/26/2019 1:00:00 AM by: LOREE PEERY
A GOOD QUESTION
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LOVING THE BABY BOOMER GENERATION
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MAKING PRETTY THINGS
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ARE YOU TOO OLD TO BECOME AN AUTHOR
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ENJOY THE MEAL
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IN THE GOOD OLD SUMMERTIME
7/15/2019 1:00:00 AM by: LINDA WOOD RONDEAU
KEEPING IT FRESH
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OVERFLOWING WITH BLESSINGS
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HAVING THE PRIME OF MY LIFE
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GOLDEN GIRL
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WRITE WHAT YOU KNOW
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Food, Families, and Fond Memories
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FOR THOSE OVER FIFTY-FIVE
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NEXT GENERATION
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Mimi and Bop
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NEVER TO OLD TO START OVER
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THE WRITER'S CALLING
4/15/2019 1:00:00 AM by: SHERRI STEWART
PLAYING THROUGH THE FOG
4/8/2019 1:00:00 AM by: LINDA WOOD RONDEAU
SOMETIMES WE JUST NEED TO TURN OFF THE GPS
4/1/2019 1:00:00 AM by: LINDA WOOD RONDEAU
DON’T CALL HER MA’AM
3/25/2019 1:00:00 AM by: LINDA WOOD RONDEAU
When Your Past Looms Longer than Your Future
3/18/2019 1:00:00 AM by: Debra Coleman Jeter
OUR MCDONALDS
3/11/2019 1:00:00 AM by: LINDA WOOD RONDEAU
BORN TOO LATE
3/4/2019 1:00:00 AM by: DIANNE BARKER
PERSPECTIVE
2/25/2019 1:00:00 AM by: LISA LICKEL
IS IT THE BEGINNING OR THE END
2/18/2019 1:00:00 AM by: KATHLEEN NEELY
MY TO-DO LIST
2/11/2019 2:16:00 PM by: SHERRI STEWART
ATTITUDE IS EVERYTHING
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MAMA, I CAN'T TAKE A BATH THERE'S A FISH IN THE TUB
1/21/2019 1:00:00 AM by: LINDA WOOD RONDEAU
EAT RIGHT NOW LIVE LONGER LATER
1/14/2019 1:00:00 AM by: Jude Urbanski
AM I STRESSED?
1/7/2019 1:57:00 PM by: LINDA WOOD RONDEAU
SHOULD VS WANT
12/31/2018 3:58:00 PM by: LINDA WOOD RONDEAU
I'LL BE ALONE FOR CHRISTMAS ... YOU CAN COUNT ON ME
12/24/2018 1:00:00 AM by: Julie Cosgrove
THE ONLY CONSTANT IS CHANGE
12/17/2018 1:00:00 AM by: LINDA SHENTON MATCHETT
LIVING WITHOUT REGRET
12/10/2018 1:00:00 AM by: Grant Ferguson
GROWING UP CAN BE FUN SO IS GETTING OLDER
12/3/2018 1:00:00 AM by: ELLIE GUSTAFSON
SOARING WITH BROKEN WINGS
11/19/2018 1:00:00 AM by: Linda Wood Rondeau
NEVER TOO LATE
11/5/2018 8:33:00 PM by: DIANE TATUM
The Not So Good Good Old Days
10/22/2018 1:05:00 AM by: Linda Wood Rondeau
