They say that dark chocolate - the kind that is almost baker's chocolate: dark, pungent, just enough sugar to hint at sweetness but a lot of complexity - is good for you. Add some spice, such as ginger and chili peppers and the health benefits soar!
I think life is also meant to be taken bittersweet - and like chocolate good for you. Too much sugar, and we get complacent; too much pain and we go into a shell. We need the right mix of joy and sorrow; laughter and tears; success and struggles. Sometimes we can't control the mix - but much of the time - we can; but don't realize it. Perhaps we fear the ability to shake things up because we might go too far, but if don't - we risk stagnation.
This has been a week of bittersweet moments. Plans are being put into place to get ready for our bike trip - and that is definitely very sweet! But this means packing our belongings into storage, saying good-bye to friends and family, and missing upcoming family events - like the birth of a nephew and the 60th wedding anniversary of a dear Aunt and Uncle. Then there were the job resignations, which for me was definitely bittersweet. I yearn to go - but will miss the wonderful co-workers and exciting work I was involved in. Okay - maybe this one has a little less bitter, but is still tinged with sadness.
Lastly, we said a long and tearful good-by to our daughter as she returned to her life in Europe after a wonderful 2 month long visit. Of course Key West was on the agenda! We will certainly miss her, but Europe is where she is calling home; it would also be much harder for me to leave on this trip if she were still close by.
You know your child has come of age when you begin learning lessons from her. Our daughter has reminded us that life is to be lived -- savored! After graduating from college she ventured off to Europe to seek her own way (
www.i-wanted-an-adventure.blogspot.com). We suggested the trip - perhaps as a foreshadowing of our own - as a wish we yearned to fulfill?
So - as work winds down, the count-down begins in earnest. We are still on target to leave at the end of February. In the next month we will embrace the bittersweet as we live in this space between excitement for the adventure and sadness at leaving those we love.
Ride on!
While at dinner last night I noticed a patron at the next table. He had a set of keys dandling from his belt that was the size of my fist. I realized that I now only had one key on my person - my car key, and soon that would be given over to our friend that would be taking care of our cars during our trip, thus leaving me key-less. My apartment keys had been given to the owners of the apartment; George had the one remaining apartment key. This would be the first time I would be key-less since I was about 12, when I got my own house key. Now that was a day! How I longed to be entrusted with that key. It represented freedom to come and go, it signaled a step toward adulthood, it presented me with power. Now after 40 years of carrying keys - it is interesting that I view a lack of keys in much the same way. Having no keys represents freedom, the feeling of being unencumbered; even if only for a few months. It is a wonderful feeling. Look Ma - no keys! 
