A retreat about listening to what your heart and soul truly crave and then giving yourself the opportunity to explore it…

I snapped a photo of the card and slipped it back in place, taking my abnormally bitter coffee with me.

30. Harper

30

On Thursday, the morning of my fifth full day at the retreat, I walked to the smoothie bar by the pool for my green goodness fresh start. The line was smaller, which meant I made a wise choice to sleep in this morning. There was no coffee anywhere on the resort—minor detail they left off on the brochure, but so far, I hadn’t died of deprivation.

Edna and Carl were already out tanning in their same chairs at ten o’clock. They were one of the few couples on the retreat. Over eighty percent of the guests checked in were fifty-five and older, mostly women. Most still-working women, who needed this getaway from the stress of their demanding jobs.

A handful were overworked lawyers, some doctors, writers, and couples suffering from empty nest syndrome after their kids went away to college.

I asked Rosemarie on my second day here if this was the typical age group, and was told there was something in the brochure that mentioned a focus on more on elderly clientele, but didn’t think I’d mind since here, “age is only a number”.

But in the short time I’d been here, I’d come to love these women. Even some of the older couples made me smile, giving me hope that not all men are heartless creatures.

Beth and Jill were two of my favorite attorneys. Both from California but didn’t know each other before they met here. They work for large corporations running them to their bones and needed a mental break.

Vicky was divorced. In fact, a lot of women here were divorced or separated.

There was a lot you learned about people having breakfast with them daily, going for hikes, yoga or volleyball on the beach. And of course, Friends at First Sight, which was held twice a week—it was set up like speed dating and you moved from one person to the next on a chair to get to know why they’re here and what their goals were. Some stories were inspiring. Some sad.

Part of it was to get to know all the people you’ll be spending a lot of time with, another was to ensure you didn’t feel alone in your quest for peace and soul searching.

After my smoothie and whole grain toast, I went to the main office for any mail or messages and also to extend my stay for another week after my eight days were up. I still had three more days, but knew I needed more time. So far, the retreat had done its job, but I had years of built-up anger, regret, loss—and now heartbreak—to fully get past.