Dear Reader

First, let me assure you I am doing well and including some new strategies into my day to day life that are already paying dividends. Life is good.

The Uncertainty of Life

I wanted to share the events of Thursday last week that show the prompt for the theme of this newsletter. My Thursday included visits with two friends and the dentist, interspersed with home time with my hubby, and daughter recently returned from Australia.

The visits started with coffee with a dear friend at Olive's, our local cafe. We meet often and chat about all sorts of things that women of a certain age have in common - children, grandchildren, aches and pains, other interesting things that stimulate our grey matter, memories - things like that. And soon the time is up and we feel fulfilled.

Next came lunch (again at Olive's) with another dear friend and her husband who were passing through Hamilton on their way to holidaying in the South Island. We haven't had a chance to catch up in person for over two years so it was a very enjoyable and fulfilling visit.

My last appointment of the day was with the dentist. He had left his old practice and when I found out where he was now working I made an appointment so he could give my teeth the once over and do a couple of fillings. It was a joy to relax in the chair and know I was in competent and kind hands for the next hour and forty-five minutes.

I was particularly grateful for this last appointment because I had taken a phone call from my sister as I parked in front of the dental surgery, fifteen minutes early for my appointment. I was able to lie there and process her call with virtually no interruptions.

My sister was ringing to let me know she had some medical tests which didn't show promising results. She is quite ill. Tests are ongoing to show the extent of the problem and determine a treatment plan. She is in relatively good spirits and has confidence in her medical team.

I am often astounded how life's challenging events come surrounded by joy and beauty and gratitude. Am I ever prepared for the challenges? I certainly had no foresight of my sister's illness, and if there were clues, I didn't pick up on them.

Yet the joy of my day wasn't negated by my sister's call. If anything, the visits shored me up to better handle and process her news while I was at the dentist.

The next time hubby and I went for our morning walk, we discovered the sunflowers I'd planted a few weeks ago have blossomed.

They remind me that the rain and sun and wind too, perhaps, are important for their growth and ability to give, not only to the bee you might be able to see on the left, but also to us humans.

I am reminded too of the similarity between the sunflowers' trials through nature and what I experienced last Thursday through shock and grief interspersed with the warmth of my friends' love. And, long after the sunflowers leave the garden, I will be warmed by the memory of the gift of their beauty and equate it to both the love of friends - and of my sister.

May you be similarly supported during life's uncertainty that comes your way.

With love,
Stephanie

Why I Write - for you and for me too.

Some stories come from lived experience, like navigating my son’s addiction and the long road of recovery. Others are shaped by imagination, like the cozy mystery I’m writing, set in a small café where trust is both tested and rebuilt. Some of my life stories still bring tears. Others make me smile. And many are filled with memories that warm my heart.

I write for anyone who’s ever carried a burden across generations, and for anyone who longs to heal forward.

My thoughts for Living Life in 2026 and beyond:

"My religion is kindness"

Dalai Lama

“Cast your bread upon the waters and it will
come back - buttered”

Doris May Payne - my mother

"Life is a Daring Adventure or Nothing"

Helen Keller

“Write it on my heart that every day is
the best day of the year”

Ralph Waldo Emerson

"Remember that sometimes not getting
what you want is a wonderful stroke of luck"
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Dalai Lama

“I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave [person] is not [the one] who does not feel afraid, but [the one] who conquers that fear.”

Nelson Mandela

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www.StephanieHammondAuthor.com

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