zatorskijoan

I was born and bred in N.Y. & made it the center of my world perspective. Yet, when we were 35 and 37, respectively, my husband and I packed up our four young sons (then aged 12,11, 10, and 2) & went to live in the Sonoran Desert of Arizona, USA. It was a dramatic change in our lives that we have never regretted. I fell in love with the desert landscape; the expanse of sky and infinite horizon, the colors and textures of the rocky mountains, the multitude of cacti and desert flora. The variety of people, languages, and cultures in my chosen home of Tucson has provided constant stimulation and growth. The pace of living & chosen personal priorities impacted our entire family. I now have a finer appreciation of the time I spend with my family & the friends who've become our extended family. Being diagnosed with the disease fibromyalgia in 1992 forced me to give up my 17-year career as a kindergarten-first grade teacher. How I loved working with those little lives! I mourned the loss of my professional identity for an entire, arduous decade before I was able to start learning how to cope with the severe pain & exhaustion associated with fibromyalgia. I utilized prayer & meditation and found supportive, knowledgeable health care professionals who worked with me. They taught me strategies for managing fibromyalgia's many extreme and confusing symptoms. The greatest help has been opening my heart to a new family member: a 70-pound, chocolate-colored, Australian Labradoodle named Levi who functions as my Certified Service Dog. Helping with my balance and retrieving items I drop, Levi has brought my symptoms under better control. With that, I found the grace needed to shift my attention off myself and onto those around me. I discovered I could give to others not "in spite of fibromyalgia" but "with fibromyalia". I was, at long last, learning the art of balance. Now I awaken each day with happy gratitude for the opportunity to experience another adventure, meet another person, and express the abundant the love I feel for my magnificent family. Life in the desert is a slowly-opening cactus rose whose growth has been well-worth the time, patience, and tender care. (NOTE: please click on each of my photos to see the photo with my comments. Thanks!)