Having change thrust upon me unexpectedly is not something I cope with easily. For someone who always considered herself a spontaneous person, I find in later years that I’m not. I liked my rut. It was safe and secure. It’s easy to commiserate with friends and say “life was not supposed to be like this. This isn’t what I planned for.” So, where do we go from here? Maybe a little backstory... .

  When I was 40 I was newly single and had only one child of 14 left at home. I decided to pick up where I had left off 26 years ago and finish the medical degree I had left hanging. I took all the entrance exams, Kleped a couple of classes and bought a new computer. My son told me I had better learn to love pizza. It was 1998. I’m working my ass off in my classes and loving it. Getting my confidence back after my husband left took some time but hey; chat rooms were huge back then as were dating sites. I had my online coffee klatch every morning but none of us were more than virtual friends. Soon the time came when a friendship formed between myself and a professor at a university two states away. He was 19 years older but that wasn’t important. It soon graduated to phone calls and finally he travelled to visit for the weekend. My son was home and even my daughter in law insisted on being there to insure my safety. The date was everything I could have hoped for. We couldn’t even stop talking long enough to read the menus at the waterfront restaurant we had chosen. White tablecloths and a wine steward... .
 
  Within a couple of semesters I had been accepted to transfer to a prestigious medical school in New Orleans and I put my house on the market while I searched for an affordable  home in New Orleans. Every weekend I went to NO house hunting and went on to Baton Rouge and spent the weekend with my professor. Finally my house sold but I still hadn’t found anything a student could afford in NO. My friend had been pushing for me to move in with him and I gave in. That 80 mile drive every morning was grueling but I did it. Who needs sleep-I was in love. In Jan. 2000 I inherited some money and that added to my day trading fund. I wasn’t rich but I was doing ok. P still made a lot more than I did and he liked to spoil me. I cooked fabulous meals and ironed his shirts. He was with me for my interview at a nearby medical school where I was to start my internship at the end of summer. In May he was diagnosed with cancer. How could I leave him alone and move to Texas? My internship never took place. Instead I literally supported him to teach his classes. The chemotherapy had paralyzed some of the muscles in his legs and he needed help walking. I changed my major and continued taking related science classes figuring that I was on campus every day so I may as well make the best of it. I finally had to graduate with 160 hours and a triple major. I still didn’t know what I wanted to be when I grew up as all I was ever meant to be was my father’s daughter-a physician. I was teaching cooking classes; did I mention that I’m a really good cook? By 2012 P. Was thinking about retiring and thought it would be a good idea for us to open a bakery/restaurant with me doing the heavy lifting and him being my financial backer. Three and a half years later we opened the doors.