That’s All, Folks

2024 is now a thing of the past as we look toward a New Year, just born. I, for one, am not sad to see it’s passing. It was a very difficult year for the Boy and I as we lost several dear friends. They seemed to come one after the other so rapidly that I don’t believe I’ve thoroughly mourned any of them yet, but that will come. It may come in fits and starts but it will come. All tears must be cried, or so I have discovered for myself. You may stuff them down so you can get on with other things that must be done, but they won’t leave you until you release them. Our lives feel a bit more lonely and a bit more narrow without the input and perspective of those we have lost. 

I hope death will lay aside his scythe for a spell and let some healing come. Of course, we know that death is inevitable for all of us but he leaves such sorrow and confusion in his wake sometimes that it’s hard to know how to walk beyond the pain. But walk we must and walk we shall. 

Jackson County has also lost some of its finest over the last year and pretty much everyone out there has experienced some kind of struggle or loss. It is hard to decide not to dwell on what we have lost and focus instead on all the gifts our loved ones bestowed upon us before the parting. When we can manage that, however, we do see that grief is also love for we would not mourn had love not been present in the first place. 

So, this New Year, I will attempt to focus more on what can be accomplished in the coming year, while always paying personal tribute to those who have left us here to walk on without them. 

I do hope you all had an enjoyable Christmas. Ours was very simple. We shared gifts with the daughter and grandchildren. No elaborate meal was cooked as the Boy spent most of the break enduring a lingering stomach “bug.” When he’s completely better, we’ll break out the feast and enjoy it together. Though no gifts of a material nature were shared between the two of us, the love and appreciation were abundantly expressed so there was no sense of lack at all. The greatest gift anyone can receive is the acceptance, love, and understanding of another. We are very fortunate to have found that gift in one another. Not a day passes where love is not given and received. We stared a tradition of our own quite a few years ago. Though we have been married for some time now, every morning we ask each other, “Will you Marry me today?” “Will you marry me tomorrow?” and “Will you marry me forever.” And every evening we reiterate those questions. Even if we have been angry with one another, we ask. Even if we don’t feel well, we ask. That way we both know that despite what pains and sorrows and struggles may come, we are on solid ground with one another. I know it is not a usual thing to do but it turns what otherwise might sometime be a string of dreaded days into a string of pearls that shine with shared love, whatever the given circumstances of any particular day might be. It has helped us through the mourning mentioned above and it has helped us always remember to look to one another for grounding and that sense of security that can sometime be hard to find in this world. 

When it comes to resolutions, I haven’t really thought about that yet. There are some things I would like to accomplish or at least set in motion in the coming year but I won’t “resolve” to do so. I think many resolutions end up being broken because we end up resenting ourselves for making them in the first place, especially if we make them public. Most are broken within the first month of the year. Perhaps instead of resolutions that feel like such a burden after awhile, we could simply resolve to try to find ways to improve both ourselves and the lives of those around us. That’s pretty non-specific but it probably covers all the bases. I hope to love more, to hope more, to give more, to sing more, to bake more, to write more, to dream more and to rest more. Making it a hope to  instead of a have to takes the sense of obligation away and seems to free me to decided as I go along how those things might be accomplished. It is not always such a good thing to pin ourselves down with specifics as we tend to wriggle under the pin and  look for ways to get free of what is pinning us. 

I do wish you all a very good New Year. I hope that you find ways to help, to hope and to heal. I hope that you find ways to love, to give and to share. I hope that you find joy, peace and comfort and love. May all of our tomorrows be brighter! 

P.S. Be ready for next week’s cold front. Look out for one another. Check on you neighbors and loved ones. And, above all, be kind.