On Monday, September 9, 2024, Ginny went to Menards to pick up some household items. There she met a started talking. Ginny told her how we had moved away from here in 1993 and were gone for over 20 years. We had returned almost eight years ago in 2016 and were still not quite settled. We hardly have any friends here and hardly know anybody. Since we are retired, there are not many opportunities to meet new people.

This lady told Ginny about The Gathering Place in Milton, about seven miles from our home. The way she described it, it sounded really interesting. They are housed in a beautiful building with nice backyard and have over 700 members. They keep a busy calendar, and have a lot of activities. They even have writers group that meets every Wednesday. When she heard that, she was really excited. She couldn’t wait to get home and tell me about it.

When she described this place to me, I was really curious. It seemed promising. We decided to go and check it out. We had things to do for the next few days. Three days later, on Friday the 13th, 2024, we went over there. I immediately liked it. The building and environment did not like a typical and drab senior center. This place was beautiful, spacious and lively. There are many sitting areas and several small groups were sitting here and there. One nice lady gave us a tour of the facility. We had a nice conversation with these ladies. I told them that I have done a lot of work in happiness are and that I am in the process of developing some happiness workshops. I also told them of my interest in yoga and cooking. They were quite intrigued and told me that their program’s coordinator will get in touch with me. We promised to come back again in a few days. Writers group was scheduled to meet on coming Wednesday, in five days.

Three days later, on Monday, 9/16th, Goli, their program coordinator called me. I had a very nice long conversation with her. I could sense that she was also intrigued with me and wanted to know more. She invited me to come and visit in two days on Wednesday, 9/18th and check out the writers group.

I dutifully went there on next Wednesday and met the writers group. There were about twenty people there. Most in there mid to late 70’s. Four of them stepped up to the podium and read from their memoirs. One gentleman remembered when the electricity had arrived on their farm in mid 1950’s. He had written a piece about and titled it, When the Farm Got Electrified. He read a few pages from this memoir. It was beautiful. Another lady wrote about a single room school that she, or her mother had attended. How the boys used to pull pranks and bully the girls. Very poignant. Some things never seem to change. Another woman read a beautiful poem. When everyone was done, I was also couldn’t hold my excitement and found the nerve to get up and say a few words about something I had experienced just the evening before. I expressed my thoughts on how do writers write, how does writing happen. It was very well received. I felt quite happy. I had enjoyed this first visit very much.

Afterwords, Goli, the programs coordinator invited me to her office to discuss my programs for seniors ideas. We had a wonderful meeting. Goli has asked me to visit again on the 24th. A Swedish professor from UW-Madison is coming to talk about Hegge, a Swedish practice of happiness. I am looking forward to it.