Appreciating the Memory of my husband, Clarence

It's been awhile since I've written any thing on my blog. I don't know why I'm not consistent with making my daily entries, but I'm going to tackle this writing again.

A lot has happened since my last entry, Clarence died in February and since that time my mind has been in a state of confusion and turmoil. However, I am slowly working through the madness. It is very difficult to stay focus on the things you need to do, after losing a loved one. But I have to get through this. What has helped me thus far is prayer and traveling. Prayer keeps me grounded and provides me with an inner strength and traveling to different places uplifts my spirit and feeds my soul. Traveling was something that Clarence and I did together quite frequently. Some trips were planned and others were done on the spur of the moment. No matter the situation we enjoyed every moment; and I am so grateful for all the experiences and wonderful memories. I am truly blessed.

To continue to honor the memory of my husband, I decided to keep up our tradition of traveling. Since he can't be with me physically, he is with me spiritually. Each place that I have traveled too, I feel his presence. In April, I went to Nassau, Bahamas and had the opportunity to visit a section of the island called Fox Hill. There I went to a sculpture garden carved out of tree trunks; it's called Sacred Spaces. It was located on top of a hill overlooking the ocean. During the time that I was there, there was a naval ship in the background, which I thought was so appropriate to honor the memory of Clarence. He loved the sea and with the ship in the background, it capture the purpose of my journey - to honor Clarence's memory. I prayed and offered his spirit to the sea, and thanked God for the life that I had enjoyed with Clarence. I was blessed to have known him for 47 years, and 37 of those years we were married. In this day and time, that is truly an accomplishment.

I thought I would slow down with the traveling, however, I was getting restless, so during the second week in July, I went on a road trip with one of my daughters. Part of the trip was planned, but during course of the trip we changed plans midstream. We were on our way to a wedding in Islamorada, Fl. This place is on the Florida Keys. We drove from New Jersey, spent one night in Richmond, VA, and St. Augustine, FL. We arrive in Islamorada, FL, spent 2 fabulous night there, left there and drove to Tampa, FL and stayed one night; left there drove to Atlanta, GA, spent 2great nights there with a childhood friend; left there and drove to Chicago, IL, passing through TN, KY, IN. We spent 4 nights in Chicago with another daughter, and my grandson. Needless to say, we had a glorious time there; then we drove back to Philadelphia, then home to NJ. What a fantastic trip!

I was only home a short time when another trip came up, which had been preplanned, but due to my lost, I forgot all about it. Since I was unable to cancel the trip without incurring penalites, we took another drive to Hilton Head Island, SC. This place is beautiful and HOT, muy caliente! But what makes this trip special to me has been meeting the local people in the community. My husband would have really appreciated this trip because he truly enjoyed meeting, mingling and eating the local cuisine.

Now reality is setting in, I do have bills to pay, hair and doctors' appointments to keep, plus maintain my house and give my body a rest from all the traveling; but it's hard to do because it's the change of scenery and visiting various places that uplifts my spirit. To that as I said before, I'm grateful!

Don't quit!

I was feeling somewhat low. I don't want to say that I am depressed, but I was feeling something. I didn't have the motivation today to do my home-based travel business. I have so much to do, I can't seem to get started. I was feeling overwhelmed and was ready to quit my business.

I decided to take a nap, but then I couldn't sleep, so I decided to read. I picked up a NACTA magazine and started reading an article about another home-based travel agent and what she was going through. It was great! Reading that article was the boost that I needed to get moving. The agent described my exact sentiments about being in the business - lack of organization her home and office, trying to answer the phone and tend to family matters, paying household and business bills, keeping up with all the changes in the business and trying to complete the self study courses, and answering clients travel requests in a timely manner, etc. Despite all that madness, she is loving every bit of it and so do I!

I can't quit this business, I love it too much and it keeps my mind active. I wish I could say it was the money, but it's not. I am just barely breaking even. I know I could make money if I put more time into my sales and marketing efforts. I have to keep myself motivated and on task, plus stay focused. I also have to maintain a positive attitude and surround myself with positive and productive people. As my mom frequently says to me, "keep looking up and don't quit."

Inspiration

Today I listened to Tavis Smiley's 2009 State of the Union Address. The morning and afternoon panels were quite impressive and inspirational; so much so, that I was inspired to write on my blog. I have not written on my blog since last year. I wasn't motivated or felt like writing anything. However after listening to the program today, I decided I needed to get started again.

Iyanla Vanzant, Les Brown, Randall Robinson, Na'im Akbar, Ericka Williams,Rev. Al Sharpton, Rev. Jessie Jackson are just a few names of the esteemed panelists that I heard today. Each person had something profound to say, comments that were empowering; such as: "have a vision," "it's necessary to prepare yourself." "recession restores resourcefulness," "create a budget," "invest in yourself," "study sucess," and "someone's opinion of you does not have to become your reality."

Then the program ended with how we all need to start a blog, be connected to the internet and use this powerful tool. Fortunately for me, I have a blog but wasn't using it. Now perhaps I can get started writing on a daily basis.

What an inspiration!

Revisiting the blog

It has been a while since I have written on my blog. Since my last visit to this site, I have traveled to Louisana and Lake Tahoe and been on 3 cruises. I know what you're thinking, I must have money. Not true, just guts! My husband and I decided to do the one thing we like to do -TRAVEL. I don' t know how we expect to make a profit, because we are always going somewhere.

I know it is hard to believe that in this economic downturn, we are hitting the road. However, despite the economic challenge, we have had a grand old time. It has been an adventure. My most memorable experience was in Lake Tahoe. The natural beauty of Lake Tahoe is indescrible. As we drove up, around, and down the hot, dry, dusty mountain, the lake seems to appear out of nowhere. It truly is an oasis in the desert 6000 feet above sea level. We stayed at the Ridge Tahoe in Stateline NV. This resort was 7000 feet above sea level. But the most exciting part of this vacation was riding the gondola 9000 feet above sea level. I can't believe I did it. You know my family talked me into it. What an incredible view! Anyone who likes to travel, should go to Lake Tahoe.

Two of the 3 cruises were business related. The first cruise was the culminating event of the TPOC convention that was held in New Orleans in April. Besides the convention, we were about to get a comprehensive tour of the devasted areas that Hurricane Katrina flooded and attend one of the events at the New Orleans Heritage Jazz Festival. The weekend we were there, Al Green was the featured performer. We decided to attend The Travel Professionals of Color Convention to expose our business, Brooks C Cruises and network with other travel professionals of color. After the convention, we took a cruise on the Carnival Fantasy and cruised to the Yucatan Penisula. On sailing days, we were attending business workshops.

On our second cruise, we sailed on the Carnival Victory out of NYC to St John Island, Newfoundland Canada, the last week in August - Labor Day weekend. Beautiful itinerary, friendly people, but too cold for me. However, the price was so reasonable, we could not resist going with our friends.

During the latter part of October and the beginning of November, we scheduled 3 events that is bound help our business, if we market correctly. Before we went on our third cruise, we attended the World Religious Travel Expo in Orlando, FL. This was an exciting and informative conference. We had the opportunity to network with companies that promoted religious travel to various religious sites throughout the world. We will begin to promote travel to the Holyland and Africa. Once we left that conference, we drove to Ft Lauderdale, to board Holland America's Westerdam. We were taking the 7-night Dave Koz Jazz Cruise. This trip was fabulous. We had the opportunity to meet and mingle with Dave Koz, Jonathan Butler, Najee, Richard Eliott, Denyce Williams, George Duke, Eric Benet, and many more musicians. These artist were so cordial and accessible to the guests throught out the cruise. It felt like a family reunion with high quality entertainment for 7 nights. What a way to spend a week! On the days that we were at sea, we had to attend travel agent workshops to help us promote the upcoming jazz cruises.

Finally, now that we are back in Fl, we are resting for a few days, before we drive down to Miami to attend the Travel Trade Show. This will be another learning experience to assists us in building and promoting our travel buisness. Even though we are tired, this is a great job!

I'm getting it!

I finally figured out how to put in the pictures. I am so excited! Be patient with me, your picture will be up shortly. This is fun!

Today was a good day!

Today was a beautiful day. I mean it was a bright, sunny, mild day. The weather was so gorgeous that I lunch with my mother and two cousins. As a result of our luncheon date, we decided to plan a White, Richardson, & Willis Family Reunion. It has been many years since we had one and being together today encouraged us to get together and begin planning for the reunion. We do have something in mind, however if you have suggestions, please share them.

I hope you read yesterday's blog entry. That affirmation made such a positive impact on me that I wanted to share it. I was so upset that I thought it went into cyberspace and was lost forever, but since I am still learning how to blog, I discovered it by accident in the draft file. So much to learn!

DANCE, LIVE, LOVE, PRAY!

I saw a plaque today that read Dance, Live, Love, Pray. Such a beautiful affirmation, and it should be a constant reminder of how we should live our lives. With that said, I would like for you to know that I am truly blessed and very grateful for all my blessings. When I think about how God has blessed me and my family, I am humbled. I wanted to complain today about things not working out the way that I wanted too, but I was reminded that I had to DANCE, LIVE, LOVE, PRAY! With that said, we are going to New Orleans to participate in the Travel Professionals of Color Conference and Trade Show. Part of the conference will be in the city of New Orleans, and the remaining portion will be held on the Carnival Fantasy as we cruise to Cozumel, Mexico. However, while we will are in the city of New Orleans, we will also have the opportunity to participate in a project that will be giving back to some of the families that have been affected by Hurricane Katrina. I know this will be a very moving experience for me.



In the very near future, I will begin to share some of my travel experiences with you and if you know anyone who is interested in taking a cruise or any other vacation package, please let me know. I'll keep you posted on all my travels. Don't forget to DANCE, LIVE, LOVE, PRAY, and "rejoice in the Lord always!"