Terrie at 56

Surely at least a few of you remember a television show from the '70s called "James at 15," and surely at least a few of you loved the show as much as I did. When I watch episodes from the series now via the marvelous creation that is YouTube, I can't help but wonder just why I was so enamored by the show ... but then again, I wonder that about a lot of the shows I watched when I was young. But as a teenager "James at 15" quickly became fodder for a dream that has stayed with me throughout the years. The premise for the show revolved around the feelings and emotions of James, a 15-year-old boy whose father chose to move their family from Oregon to Massachusetts. Each week, the series would chronicle the adventures of James as he learned to manage life in the big city of Boston. I remember curling up in my black beanbag chair as I vicariously experienced New England through James ... that's where my dream to see the Northeast with my own eyes first began.

When my son Brad told me last summer that he was moving to Maine, my feelings sloshed back and forth between sadness to see him go so far away to happiness for him getting such a great opportunity to ... well ... to jealousy that he was moving to the very place I'd always dreamed of living in. It was less than a week after he moved that Brad called me and said, "Mom, you have to come up here while I'm living here ... you won't believe how beautiful it is here." I promised my son I'd start saving my pennies and try to get there, but Brad decided he'd make sure I came to visit him and his girlfriend Shelby. Yep ... my sweet son bought me a plane ticket for my Christmas and birthday gift, and Ollie and I returned last night from spending a most wonderful week in a quaint little town just off the coast of Maine. The best way I can describe my time there is to say it really was a dream come true; in fact, it was everything I dreamed it would be and more. I spent the week surrounded by more natural beauty than I've ever seen with two of the people I love most in this world ... it just doesn't get any better.

I've got plenty of stories about my trip to share with you in my next few posts, but for tonight, I'm exhausted and need a good night's sleep before I head back to work tomorrow. In the meantime, don't stop dreaming, friends ... don't ever, ever, ever stop dreaming.