Minneapolis is my home city, but HOME is Door County, WI. Not a city but a peninsula of small towns and preserved woods, surrounded by Lake Michigan. The picture featured on the blog is a arial view of Sturgeon Bay, one of the largest small towns in Door County.

My husband and I moved here 14 years ago from Minneapolis, Minnesota. We made it our mission to be involved in the community. I volunteered to help preserve the wild flowers in Woodside Park.

We ran recovery groups, and Bob served as commander of the local boating safety group, The Door County Sail & Power Squadron.

Bob died of colon cancer in January 2017, and I stared this blog in December 2017. I’ve done 110 posts on writing and traveling.

January 2020 I began what was to be my epic bucket list journey. I was going to all the places I’d dreamed of going, but had never been. Before I left, I scanned all my important documents that I might need to write a memoir of how Bob and I stayed together for 50 years. We married each others’ problems and grew beyond them to achieve a wonderful union till death did us part.

The bucket list journey began in Costa Rica in January, then in February I flew to Japan with a short stop in Minneapolis. At the end of February I arrived back in Australia for a final three month visit, or so I thought. Three months turned into 15 months with lots of time to write my memoir.

The memoir, called Getting Beyond, is in its final stages and looking for a publisher. It is an action packed story of abuse, love, betrayal, addiction and recovery. In it I share my experience, strength and hope in the tradition of AA and Al Anon. My hope is that others will learn from our journey and have the will to stick with it, and work on their relationships.