The Bridge is Over

My Path is Clear

I hit a milestone birthday on May 30—I turned 55. It is a milestone in more ways than one: this year I decided to exit fulltime work to take a creative sabbatical that I have dubbed My Double Nickel Adventure, I also chose to let go of having a permanent home in the United States, and finally I will be doing some international travel while having a homebase in Mexico.

When you make plans to leave the country there are many things to consider, and one of the biggest is decluttering and downsizing as you decide what to keep and what will come along with you. This process can be daunting. In my case, I had been downsizing for the last 7 years. After divorce, I moved from a 5-bedroom, single family home to a three-bedroom townhouse. Then we moved to a smaller condo-style townhouse a couple years later. Each time, decisions were made as our footprint got smaller. I refused to get a storage unit, and I believe in using garages for cars! As you can imagine, we were very intentional about what items came into our home.

So, when I got serious about embarking on My Double Nickel Adventure, I gathered a few suitcases (eight in total, no judgement!) and began my version of Marie Kondo-ing my life. This included trying on every single item of clothing I owned and letting go of anything that did make me feel good when I looked in the mirror. I also allowed my children to take anything they wanted to furnish their first home. I gifted things to people and donated some furniture to an organization that is near and dear to my heart.

Then the game of Tetris began with fitting my things into those eight suitcases that I would go with me to Mexico. I had a few pieces of art and other décor items because I knew I wanted some beautiful and familiar things in my new space. One of those items was a three-piece canvas with images of bridge angles in black and white. I really like these pieces. They were the first new works of art I bought to hang in the first townhouse we lived in after leaving the big house. I needed something to signify the point in time; the point of debarkation.

Me near the Golden Bridge at Ba Na Hills, Vietnam, 2025.

Today, as I was unpacking in my new apartment here in Mexico, I got around to the bridge artwork. And just as I was about to hang one, the twine snapped in my hand. I picked up the second one and it snapped. I was stunned. These were well-made and had already survived two different hangings. But as I sat holding the broken twine, I heard a whisper that it was time for something new. The bridge is over.

Now any hip-hop head from the east coast is familiar with this ultimate diss track. Did rap originate in Queens or in the Bronx? Listen, I am not qualified to get into that debate, what I do know is, ALL the music was fire in that era of rap. I also know that bridges are a theme that I see in my writing and in my life. I am drawn to bridges. But today, I know that the bridge is over; I am in a new place.

A few years ago I took my younger daughter on college tours and we travelled to Pittsburgh two or three times. Now I had been there before, but during the back-to-back trips, I was taken with the number of bridges in the city. I did a deep dive, and I learned is that Pittsburgh has two nicknames: “The Steel City” and “The City of Bridges.”

Depending on the criteria one might use, Pittsburgh boasts between 300 and 446 in total. There is much debate online about what constitutes a bridge for official counting purposes. That side quest was entertaining, but like many things I tend to draw deeper meanings if I think about them long enough. Bridges allow us to take shortcuts and to traverse various types of terrain or obstacles in different ways. Bridges can span great lengths and often have very deep foundations. Bridges are connection points. Today the bridge is over; I have reached my destination; I have made it over.

Rooftop views from my birthday lunch in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, 2026.

There is a song by Dianne Reeves titled, “Bridges” with hauntingly powerful lyrics:

[Verse 1]
I have crossed a thousand bridges
In my search for something real
There were great suspension bridges
Made like spider webs of steel
There were tiny wooden trestles
And there were bridges made of stone
I have always been a stranger
And I’ve always been alone

[Verse 2]
There’s a bridge to tomorrow
There’s a bridge to the past
There’s a bridge made of sorrow
That I pray will not last
There’s a bridge made of color
In the sky high above
And I pray that there must be
Bridges made out of love

The bridge is over; I am building an altar of thanksgiving.

I am reminded of a passage in Isaiah 43:18-19:

¹⁸ “Forget the former things;
do not dwell on the past.
¹⁹ See, I am doing a new thing!
Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?
I am making a way in the wilderness
and streams in the wasteland.

The bridge is over; I am perceiving the new thing!

I had a praise party all by myself this afternoon. The bridge art served its purpose. I am excited and open and anticipating all the new things coming my way. I am still the birthday (I know the kids probably stopped saying that already) and am thankful for every gift that will manifest in my life this year of my life and beyond. I am thankful for all the ways that I am springing forward and blooming in this season.

The bridge is over. I am thankful for my clear path on solid ground and I am thankful that I have learned to trust the timing of my life.

Oh, and I will be on the lookout for new art that represents where I am now.