Out with the old, in with the new

I've been composing a post in my head all day and keep revising it. I think the year is too hard to recap, since most of the drama has happened in the past month.

Aside from losing my job, we suffered a loss at church as well with the passing of two of our choir members just in the last ten days. On the better news front, a good friend from my older son's youth group days had a beautiful baby boy this summer, and my beautiful baby has grown taller than me now and will be off to high school next fall.

Hopefully this new year will see better economic days for us all, in the form of a new job for me and just better times overall for everyone. Our middle child deploys to Afghanistan in the spring and I plan to play ostrich about that just a bit longer.

Our oldest is thriving in spite of having us for parents, and that makes me feel wonderful. I'm so very proud of all of my kids and the loves of their lives.

This has been the Year of Facebook for me and it's been nothing short of amazing. I have reconnected with people that were at my 5th birthday party (50 years ago), best friends from Junior and Senior High, two of my bridesmaids from my Junior College days, friends I sang with in Junior College and also at NIU. I have found and also been found by co-workers from my first teaching job, and by students in my very first 1st grade class back in 1981 and even one that I had as a student when I was interning in 1977.

I have become better friends with people I have met on Plurk, and then (again) through Facebook.

It's just so amazing. I am so blessed.

I hope that the new year is good to you all, and that you have as much joy as you have brought to me this year.


Allow me to close with the words from a favorite choral anthem of mine from about 35 years ago. It was taken from a poem by Minnie Louise Haskins.


And I said to the man who stood at the gate of the year: “Give me a light that I may tread safely into the unknown.”

And he replied:

“Go out into the darkness and put your hand into the Hand of God. That shall be to you better than light and safer than a known way.”

So I went forth, and finding the Hand of God, trod gladly into the night. And He led me towards the hills and the breaking of day.

Looking forward

It's 2009, can you believe it? It seems we were celebrating the turn of a new millennium just yesterday. We were reminiscing about that over dinner last night and laughing. Here in Miami it was what we consider freezing (never mind, all you Northerners!) and we went to a block party at a friend's home. There were way too many of us to cram inside, so there were chimineas placed strategically around the front lawn and we huddled gratefully around as we sipped champagne. Frankly, we just wanted it to be midnight already so that we could retreat to the warmth of our homes.

All five of us attended, my husband and I and our three children, because it was a once-in-a-lifetime thing; an historic event. Last night, in contrast, we were one child short as the oldest son was at his girlfriend's celebrating with her family. But that 'one-less' number was filled in by the presence of our younger son's new wife of one week and a day.

Change. We seem to be rolling in it here at our house. :)


What will this new year bring? We don't know, and don't want to know. That would spoil all the fun!