April Fool Angel Blessings

My first blessing was granted to the lens that organized all our April 1st Angel Adventures for 2011. We were sent to this lens to let the world know where we were flying around Squidoo on April1 and to suggest some refreshments for the day.

Interestingly the lens title refers to April 1 2010 ... did I lose another year?

These lenses take a philosophical approach to life and the human experience.

These lenses are about topics that are more serious and sobering. Each one made me think about my own experiences with people or situations that have been difficult, upsetting or somewhat dangerous.

Another set of lenses that brought back memories of life experiences. I found myself recalling personal situations and those of friends or family members.

I 've moved to another home 15 times in the past 15 years (most of those relocations took place when I went back to school and changed careers between 1995 and 2000). Life experiences, relationship changes and employment situations all contributed to my losing touch with old friends while making my family ties stronger and more important.

During the 1990's I lost several close friends to cancer. My father and my mother-in-law passed away within months of each other in the first half of 2004, then we lost a grandchild just hours after her birth that same year, on the day after Christmas.

I'm now working toward finding and making new friends in the place where I plan to retire, so I want to build friendships like I had when I was younger.

These lenses helped me to focus on the hows and whys of making and keeping friends, and the importance of friends and family to a healthy lifestyle.

Most of my birth family moved far from our New England home town when I was pregnant with my second daughter 37 years ago. Over the course of 3 decades while living in New Hampshire and Massachusetts I made sure to stay in touch and visit my family in Pennsylvania as my children grew up and my siblings moved away from my parents.

In 1999 I moved to Pennsylvania to live closer to my aging parents and start a completely new career while my grown-up daughters established careers and families of their own in different states far away.

After more than 10 years of shuttling between New York, New England and Pennsylvania I was able to purchase a second home in New England in 2010 so my husband and I can be closer to our daughters and grandchildren as we grow older. My life has come full circle in the process of keeping family ties strong and social connections intact despite significant life and career changes.

These lenses helped me rediscover and explore memories and feelings about relationships of all types.