Yes, I was born in 1953. Turning 65 has been a milestone. I celebrated the day with my nephew and his two daughters and my niece, her husband and their two sons and my brother and my husband.
We had a birthday lunch at Tony’s Diner in Trinidad, CO then we drove over Raton Pass to Raton, NM to the Aquatic Center and swam and played in the water all afternoon–it was sure joy and delight for me.
When we arrived back in Branson, Co, my husband, Lin, came from our home outside of Albuquerque, NM with gifts and a delicious cake.
We spent the evening playing games around our round table in the dining room at my house, laughing and enjoying each other. Zenga became the new favorite game that had us laughing and holding our breath.
I couldn’t have asked for a better day to enter the land of Medicare.
A dear family friend, Zita Louden, lived to be in her 90’s and she told Mom once, “Never, never think old!”
That truly is my motto. Lin and I lead a busy, action-packed life, dancing 3 – 4 times a week. I exercise 2 times a week. I have a fantastic retirement job of writing books. I visit our family ranch once a month and co-manage it with my brother. Lin and I travel all over the USA for square dance festivals and have dear friends all over the country.
There’s no stopping me, and I look forward to what this year will hold–adventure I’m sure because I look for it every day. I start each day with this simple prayer, “Surprise me today, Lord!” And He does!
What is your motto for life? What is your simple prayer to start the day?
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Larada Horner-Miller is a poet, essayist and accomplished multi-genre author who holds a bachelor’s degree in English, with a minor in Spanish and a master of education degree in Integrating Technology into the Classroom. She is the accomplished author of six award-winning biographies, historical fiction, memoir, and poetry works plus three self-published cookbooks.
Her sixth book, Coronavirus Reflections: Bitter or Better?, is available in paperback and four e-book formats. Larada offers the reader the opportunity to look back at 2020 and the global pandemic through her prose and poetry through reading, then reflecting and responding. She addresses all the emotions she felt during this overwhelming time and leads the reader through to a self-access: bitter or better?
Her fifth book is the authorized memoir and biography of world-renown square dance caller Marshall “Flip” Flippo. Just Another Square Dance Caller: Authorized Biography of Marshall Flippo is available now in hardback, paperback and four e-book formats. Recently Just Another Square Dance Caller won two awards: Book Excellence Awards Finalist and Silver award for eLit. Book Awards.
Another recent book of hers, A Time to Grow Up: A Daughter's Grief Memoir has won many awards including being a 2018 Book Excellence Awards Finalist in the Memoir category at the New Mexico-Arizona Book Awards and a 2018 Independent Press Distinguished Favorites Award in the Memoir category. Horner-Miller has also been a past national presenter at the Women Writing the West Conference and is currently the creator of Memoir Workshops for others who want to share their family’s legacies through words.
Larada and her husband, Lin, enjoy being nestled in the mountains above Albuquerque, New Mexico, near the village of Tijeras. When not writing books, this passionate, energetic, and enthusiastic woman loves to spend time kicking up her heels at square dancing gatherings, traveling, knitting, and reading.
As co-manager of her family’s southeastern Colorado ranch, she enjoys spending time exploring her family’s historic ranch and reminiscing with her brother and his children about their mom, dad, and granddad.
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