Conversations with Paula

(In memory of Paula - 2024. Written in 2022)

My neighbor, Paula, turns 94 in November. She is tiny, but mighty. Born in Germany, she moved to the United States after marrying an American soldier. Today, she honored him 44 years after his death. She does this every year to celebrate him and his life.

Paula raised a son and a daughter by herself and experienced some of the greatest grief and hardship a person can experience, yet when you talk with her, you quickly realize the gift she continues to bring to those around her. That gift is her light and her wisdom.

Still independent, she keeps her house tidy, does her own cooking, cleaning, and takes care of her yard and wonderful vegetable and flower gardens. She has a knack for growing flowers and plants. They all seem to blossom with her daily loving care, as if they know they are a source of nourishment and joy for her. They beam the love she gives right back.

She eats the food she grows and still makes her own bread and desserts from scratch. Somehow, she managed to heal through and keep going after breaking her shoulder, then her leg last year. When I asked her how she worked through the pain of her breaks and the subsequent physical therapy, she said “through her mind”. Wow.

Over the years, she built and put up a wooden fence, did repairs on her home herself and continues to drive to church and get her groceries, and is thankful for all of it. Her cozy home reflects the era she was last able to afford to update it, yet it is clean and welcoming, brimming with light and newly formed blossoms that edge her windowsills.

I had a chance to catch up with her after quite some time, as did my husband and daughter. What a pleasure it was to talk with her. When I asked her how she was able to accomplish so much in her life and continues to do so, she said, “because I believed I could.”

Paula didn’t let her size or fear of limitations stop her from learning and growing. Some of what she overcame was due to pure necessity, whatever the challenge was. She had to figure it out and that message came through her loud and clear. I don't believe she allows excuses to rule any part of her life. Pure accountability is what I heard.

I'm passing her dose of simple encouragement on to you. Wherever this message finds you in your life – whatever it is you are celebrating or trying to overcome, move through, shift, let go of, forgive, create, repair, build or change, reach higher and believe you can do it. 

Paula’s life is a reminder to enjoy the simple pleasures around us, tackle what’s tough, and keep moving forward.

Design A Life That Lights You Up®, including your space. Connect with me via my websites for Life - Lifestyle Design and Interiors.