Rosemary Gladstar, Herbalist and Friend

Last month I had the opportunity, again, to listen to my friend Rosemary Gladstar talk about using  herbs for nutrition and health. She was speaking at The Mother Earth News Fair and I was an exhibitor there.Rosemary is one of the matriarchs of the herbal world. She has been creating effective and great tasting herbal formulas for over 4 decades. I am honored to know her and feel blessed too, of having her support and encouragement over the years. Her belief in me, as I grew The Herbal Sage Tea Company,inspired me to become a better formulator. Rosemary has a great way of reaching out, she makes it look so easy! I was sent this prompt today, this is a new venue for Rosemary, using the Internet to share her story. Take a moment and join her, and I know you will enjoy her as much as I have over the years!

 Maureen and Rosemary a few years ago at

The New  England Womens Herbal Gathering

                                                            http://rosemarysremedies.com

Letting Go

Fall is quickly approaching and soon winter will be creeping in. Changes are all around, and its time to  let go of the falsehood of control,of trying to hang on.As the leaves are beginning to turn here in SE Ohio and I am settling in with the changes that have happended in my life this year.This has been quite a year in learning to let go. Perhaps not so much in learning as an achieved task, but learning,as forced ,to move thru hard times.

 Early summer my father passed on, it was difficult and too quick. Once he was able to come home from  the hospital and be at our house, he let go and within a week was gone. I hadn't wanted that happen, yet it wasn't up to me, was it? Summer began then, in a new way for the first time in my life, no talks of fishing trips, no calling home to tell him about new recipes, new clients, new endeavours. He had always been the guy I went to as business grew ( up and down!), then grew again. He helped me keep to the task at hand, always helping me look to the finished product, the end result. Regardless, if it was beneficial in  financial growth ,or just another one of my creative ideas, that created yet another curve in the road of my life!

I miss him.

This last week that sadness was rekindled as a close friend, Megan who lived in the DC area passed on unexpectledly. Now THAT was something too, that I didn't want to happen. She leaves behind a very young son,a loving family and many, many friends. My friend Megan helped steer me ,while I  maneuvered thru the hoops that  the large natural food store chain,that had picked up The Herbal Sage Tea Company Teas, put me through.  She kept me grounded and reminded me of my vision for The Herbal Sage. Her help was invaluable as I got knocked around by the "big" players, helped me stay true to quality and to the passion that still drives me.

These losses this year have actually been gifts for me. Their passing has helped me realize the fleeing of this life.Sometimes quickly, sometimes slowly it always moves on. How I move with it is up to me.

I am drinking a nourishing herbal tea, organic nettle leaf as I write.I had thought of this blogg as an avenue for herbal news, I realize that I hadn't written in so long because this fear and sadness I held close and hung on to,kept me stuck and unable to write. Perhaps with this blogg post, I am able to let go a bit more and make room for the richness and beauty of  this season.

Thanks to all of you for reading.