I am a retired medical professional, a widow, a Mom with four amazing children and grandchildren and I live with three King Charles spaniels. For 20 years, I have been at Palmer, singing with the choir, working on Altar Guild, volunteering in the church office, helping with funerals as a member of the Funeral Guild, and growing always with my friends in the Women’s Spirituality Group and Bible studies.

When COVID came into our lives last March I began taking long walks with a few close friends to help cope with the isolation, stress and sadness of the pandemic. The Willow Waterhole Greenway in the Westbury area of town quickly became my favorite place. A 290-acre park that is part of Harris County flood control, the waterhole has five retention ponds, wide walkways, green space, native plants and trees, and flowers and grasses.

Two or three times a week we walk around Triangle Lake and one or two of the smaller lakes as our time and energy permits. We arrive at sunrise to the sounds of birds and visions of amazing skies; we leash our dogs and start out. We see nature photographers capturing the migrating and native birds who make nests and raise their young. We watch ducklings hatch and grow. We see men fishing and fish jumping, and occasionally a possum scurries past us on the path. Sometimes there is the distant sound of a train whistle. And on the hour we hear the soft peal of the deep bell at St. Catherine’s Convent nearby.

Some mornings we chat about our families, books and movies and improvements that are planned for the waterhole, including a proposed dog park. But just as often we walk silently and listen to nature around us. My walks now have expanded to Hermann and Memorial parks. Each place has its own identity and I feel free, energetic, content and a sense of belonging.

It’s true that I miss many things…, visiting nursing homes with my dogs, going to church and out to lunch after, travel, celebrations, hugs and cuddles, and most of all, my family, but we make the best of it in weekly zoom meetings that are a highlight of every week.

Before COVID-19, I had to adapt to major changes in my life, losing my husband Woody in 2014 and retiring three years later from a fulfilling and absorbing career as a nurse, hospital administrator and teacher. But walking through COVID has taught me new things too. I have learned to take time to reflect and enjoy friends and animals and to live into the peaceful, calming presence of God. I have a new understanding of how I can help others as they struggle through this time and I am taking better care of my own health. Most of all, I am reminded daily of the amazing value of my church, friends and family in my world. As in all of my life, God has given me what I need and enabled me to live life to the fullest through hard times and good times. I am truly blessed and very grateful.