Welcome, Fierce sisters! This week we're excited to feature Forever Fierce Community member, Susan "Honey" Good.

In her sixties, Honey craved a new purpose that led to her award-winning site, HoneyGood.com.  Her blog provides roadmaps for women over 50 to find their own purpose and get invaluable advice. 

Happily re-married for 26 years, after becoming widowed in her forties, she and her husband share a large blended family with 25 grandchildren.  Honey welcomes the opportunity to help others by sharing her joys as well as her hardships.  Subjects range from travel and beauty to achieving success, measuring success on your own terms, blending families, nurturing friendships, coping with grief and loss, grandparenting, and cancer survival, all of which Honey has experienced.  

Abrams Noterie Books sought her out to write Stores For My Grandchild, a journal to share experiences, ancestry, lessons and love to be passed down to grandchildren and their children. 

Read on to learn about this fierce, fantastic sister, and find more about Honey on her website, Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.

Stories For My Grandchild is a beautiful, hard bound journal for grandmothers to record their treasured stories, family history and personal vignettes to give as a gift to their grandchildren.  Hopefully they will pass the treasured journal down to their children.  Sharing stories from her past gives her grandchildren a sense of identity, a connection to their heritage and a deeper relationship with her.  Grandchildren will know their grandmother for more than kisses and comfort.  They will learn about their family through her stories, and more importantly about the values they will hand down to future generations.

Abrams, a large publishing company in New York, was looking for a hip 21st Century grandmother who walked on the sunny side of the street and made lemonade out of her lemons.  They searched the Internet, reading the stories of many bloggers and chose me to be the author of Stories For My Grandchild.  I received the invitation in the form of an email.  After reading the words several times, I felt a mix of emotions...shock, excitement, and gratitude.  I recall running through our home looking for my husband.  My first words were "I'm so grateful.  I am going to be an author".

Surviving cancer.  To have the ability not to be deterred by danger and fear, takes courage.  I am grateful.  I am positive.  I am resilient.  I owe this to my mother.  I am my mother's daughter.

This is a difficult question because I admire many outstanding women.  I will bestow this honor on my mother, who is my role model.  At 98 she is a resilient and fierce woman with the highest of principles.  She is a woman of substance.

Red lipstick!

Sacred Powers:  The Five Secrets To Awakening Transformation by Davidji
Next month's FFR Book Club selection; when life presents you with a critical crossroads, which way do you turn? Award-winning author of Secrets of Meditation and Destressifying, meditation teacher and stress management expert Davidji offers his five time-tested secrets to awakening transformation so you can ground yourself, gain clarity, make life-affirming decisions, step into your power, own your impact, and soar! 

Women Rowing North: Navigating Life's Currents And Flourishing As We Age by Mary Pipher
Women growing older contend with ageism, misogyny, and loss. Yet as Mary Pipher shows, most older women are deeply happy and filled with gratitude for the gifts of life. Their struggles help them grow into the authentic, empathetic, and wise people they have always wanted to be.

A brilliant must read by FFR member Dawn MacLaughlin.  Women - It's Time To Step Outside The Prison.

Marian Salzman's Annual Trends report reveals the rise of the 'age proud' movement.  Why 2019 Will Be the Year you Stop Lying About Your Age.

Most women aren't taught to replace the techniques they learned in middle school with ones that are better suited for their current age.  8 Beauty Tips from a Makeup Artist Who Works With Women Over 40.

What is Vitamin C Serum good for and how do you use it?  The Best Vitamin C Serums of 2019.

8 Trends That Are In for 2019...and 6 That Are Out.  

How to Get a Sleek and Interesting Monochromatic Look.

Staying fit is important at every age, but that can obviously become more difficult as we get older.  The 12 Minute Exercise that Keeps Helen Mirren Fit at 73.

The 9 Most Powerful Medicinal Plants.

Author Brene Brown is coming to Netflix, and we can't wait.  Brene Brown, The Call To Courage, drops April 19th.

For the first time ever, a woman has won the Nobel Prize for Math. Meet Karen Uhlenbeck.

9 Delicious Spring Cocktails.  

Easter is coming!  What's for dessert?  Easy Carrot Cake.

--Article and photo by Lisa Harris

 

My husband and I recently returned from a week-long Southern Caribbean itinerary on the beautiful Celebrity Summit, our second cruise as empty nesters, and our fifth overall.  And we already have our next one booked!

Maybe you think cruising is only for the "newly wed and nearly dead" crowd.  Those days are long gone!  Today's fleets of ultra-modern ships offer unique and innovative at-sea experiences appealing to people of all generations.  Because of these innovations and new technology, cruise travel is exploding with a projected 27 million travelers in 2019 and even higher numbers beyond.  If you haven't cruised before, if you're a skeptic, or if you went years ago, read on, start planning, and get on board!

1. Budget friendly.
The average daily cost per person is $212.  This includes accommodations, food (including room service), non-alcoholic drinks, daily entertainment, endless activities, use of spa and fitness center, kids clubs, and multiple swimming pools on larger cruise lines, and more.  If you're flexible with time, you can find even better deals.  The good news is, there's a cruise for most budgets!

2. Multiple exotic destinations.
Cruising is an ideal way to explore a handful of exotic destinations and see the world in one week or longer.  Even shorter 3-4 day cruises offer interesting ports of call to explore.

3. Unpack one time.
The days of schlepping a suitcase or overstuffed backpack around and unpacking/repacking every couple of days are over for me.  Been there, done that!  I'll stick with cruising where I can move into my cabin, unpack once, and explore the world from there, thank you very much!

4. Endless activities or total relaxation.  You pick.
If you're the type who likes activity from morning to night, there are literally hundreds of activities every day - more than you'll have time for!  Choices include onboard sports, gambling, games, contests, stage shows, live music, dancing, art programs, and shopping.  And these are just a fraction of options for activity seekers.  And did I forget to mention exploring the ports?
On the other hand, if relaxing, taking in spectacular views, finding a quiet spot to read, playing board games with your travel companion, enjoying a spa day, or watching a movie is more your speed, the choice is yours.  You'll find plenty of quiet sports onboard, such as lounges, libraries and other hidden nooks and crannies where you can escape from the activity.

To read 17 more reasons to go on a cruise this year, visit Lisa's blog at Midlife In Bloom.

The sensational Cheryl Richardson, Oprah collaborator and Coach On Call will be giving a Facebook Live just for our Forever Fierce Bookclub Group on her book, Waking Up In Winter. For a real treat, check out this talk show episode where Catherine travels to Newburyport, MA for a one-on-one in-depth interview with a woman whose specialty is "Mastering Modern Midlife!"

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