The Liftoff

The huge leap came when Lois took a job as a parish nurse for $10,000 a year. In 1998, she separated from her husband and lived “very frugally.” She roomed with a woman she’d met at Al-Anon for six months. When she and her husband divorced in 1988, she moved back into their house, but she sold it shortly afterward and bought a condo  — “My first independent purchase,” she says.

“I felt like God had called me into new life, like an IV transfusion,” says Lois.

A Circle of Friends

One way she chose to celebrate the milestones  —  her new determination, patience, facing her fears, and hard work  — was to invite the support and encouragement of friends.

Lois began using parties and birthdays as celebrations of the new joy she was tapping into. One thing she could control amidst all the transition was what she did on her January 8 birthdays, so she began using them as launching pads for what lies ahead. “I’ve always tried to create some way of honoring the day I was given the gift of life.”

For her fiftieth birthday, in honor of celebrating her conquering of another life-threatening health event  —  cervical cancer  —  Lois was reminded again of her beach promise to risk more and have more fun. She wanted to, as she explains, “express my old broad” years, so she held a bash and dubbed it, the “When I’m an Old Woman, I Shall Wear Purple” party. She and her friends dressed wildly, told bawdy jokes, and even “practiced spitting” in the snow. She then traveled