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I woke up this morning, the first Monday of a new year, ready to go - with a hefty to-do list backed by the rest of holiday time, and the energy of a new year. But something stopped me from getting right to it when I entered my studio this morning and I'm so glad I listened and paused, and stopped to remember. A browse through the photos of 2016 felt like the most important thing to do and that's just what I did, a few from each month here.
What a year it was! Full of so very much! There was a great deal of travel, certainly more than I've ever done in one year. There were solo trips with some of my kids, with memories that I know will last a lifetime. Steve took some too, and has his own stories to tell. There were so many firsts - first plane rides, first prom, first drivers test, first summer camp (and the corresponding first lice! that was fun!), and so much more. Our weekends were full of theatre, skiing, circus arts, piano, fiddle, ballet, running, and oh my gosh, so many things. We put a whole lot of miles on our van. My children fought a whole lot. But they also loved each other a whole lot too. And good gracious, did they grow! And I think I did too. In my marriage, as a mother, and in the healing of my body. I greeted 40! I made new friends, and deepened old friendships. I fell deeper in love with my work.
But more than all the firsts and the extraordinary moments that fill us up with memories and stories, I remember and honor the everyday ones, too. Our garden that grew even more this year, the animals we cared for and loved (and helped birth), the gazillion games of chess and Monopoly and Sorry. The many moments in front of the fire playing music together. Our conversations on long car rides. The many handknits that landed on their bodies. And so much more. So much fits into a day in the life of a family....and that's a whole lot in one year.
And in this year, this blog of mine turned eleven. It was an entirely different world eleven years ago, as I know you know. This now "ancient" method of communicating was new and fresh in 2005. I was a young (!) mother of two (!). The time I was able to put into this space was much more than it is now. But I can't tell you what it means that you're still here or that you've just found your way here and have decided to stick around. That this space is still, each day, an open window through which we can connect gives me such hope and good feeling about the world when the daily news can sometimes convince me otherwise. Because I know for certain that one thing we need is more connection to one another. Each of us, living our own full and very different lives, have so much in common when it all comes down to it. We are united in our journeys.
From my family to yours, and from my heart to yours, I am wishing us all a very happy, healthy, gentle and kind 2017!