Yikes. What would you do?

[Cudedog]

My sincere and heartfelt thanks to all who responded, Shirl, Anita, Bethers, Sandi, Sheila, JudyJB, Velda, Evie, Barbie, Karen, Lyn - hope I didn't miss anyone.

The kind support from all of you is appreciated more than you know. I was in a bit of a state when I wrote my original post, and didn't really know where to turn.

I think part of the reason this stings so bad is because it is this club that re-awakened my passion for all things rock, it was the club members of this club that taught me how to do lapidary work (and use lapidary machines), and it is this club that was (mostly) the reason I progressed on to jewelry-making.

Add to that the fact. . . oh well, never mind. It is what it is.

I had heard through the grapevine over the last year or so that a few prominent club members had left the club due to. . . unknown/unexplained circumstances. But, again, not worth speculating about.

All things evolve and change, whether we wish them to or not. This club is no longer a good fit for me, time to move on. And, yes, looking back, I definitely should have just got up and left. A lot less stress and upset in the long run.

Having learned my lesson, I will definitely do the "get up and leave" thing next time.

I have made contact with a local knitting ladies group (good suggestion, Barbie, thanks!), and a local quilters group, whose members are ladies of about my age. Both of these meet weekly at my local Senior Center. Both groups are very welcoming, both groups seem happy to have me come and sit with them and do my jewelry thing while they do their knitting/quilting things, as we all chat and visit together.

It is about community, after all.

I am still looking for another rock club to get involved with, but the distances I would have to travel to meetings and to participate in shop time are a bit more than I want to do. The closest is about a seventy-mile round trip. Couple of others are in about the 100+ mile round trip range.

There used to be an active gem and mineral club here in the small town where I live, but I can't find any information about them. I think maybe they have disbanded, but I will keep looking.

I will also be looking into local arts groups (I have heard there is at least one, but have yet to track them down). I actually don't do too much lapidary work these days, if there is a finished stone I want, that I can't find elsewhere, I can still do it.

But I love jewelry making, and an arts club or group might be a better fit at this stage of my interest.

Anyway, to sum up, thanks to each and every one of you who responded, and thanks also to those who may have read my sad story and didn't have anything to reply.

Thanks to ALL of you.

I love the community we have here, and (in a very real sense) I am quite sure I would not have made it through these past pandemic years without you. All of you have been a life saver to me. That is the truth.

Thank you all so very, very much.

Anne