Feels like a whirlwind, doesn't it? Not just the holidays (which seemingly flew by me in a glorious frenzy of tissue paper, confectioners sugar and glitter, as noted by the evidence I am still finding) but the entire year. I look back on 2016 as if it were a giant revolving door instead of a calendar year; transformations, changes, comings and goings. I'm not even talking about the election--transitions to be sure--but so many changes and upheavals along my own journey.
I've realized that for a girl who enjoys travel and activities and surprises, I also apparently like my schedule and patterns, so this year of "different" was not always so easily-received by me. Abby left for college, Sam started high school, and Jono began his senior year. Adam made a big decision to begin a new phase in his career; after twenty years in the same company, he will be transitioning into something new.
Big changes. Which bring about small changes. Morning routines, daytime routines. Who's in the office, and who's watching the Today Show-- or ESPN? Abby is no longer singing show tunes (or Beyonce) all day long in the kitchen, but Sam has taken up skiing full-force, so I am learning a delightful new language. (Some days the "pow" is great on the slopes, and sometimes things are "sendy." Sick. Hella lit.) I often trip over ski boots.
Just when I was growing accustomed to Jono being away, he is now about to become a true grown-up. He has thrown himself into the interview process and while his determination and skill both astound and delight me, I already find myself mourning the fact that I will not have him home again for a four-week Christmas break. Sad!
This will be Jono's last season of baseball. And ours, with him. Real change. I am a girl who packs a mean baseball cooler, a trie baseball mom. But I am also not unaware of the changes in the boy who is becoming a man; one ready to move forward with the love of the game with lessons learned from the game. A new phase, a new time.
Abby will take the stage at Miami University in the spring. I'm trying not to rent an apartment in Oxford to take care of her this spring. I want to be close enough to buy grapefruit juice and lozenges, to make sure she sleeps and eats. To be at every single show. This is already difficult for me.
But this is not about me. These revolving doors keep revolving, and sometimes, I find them spinning me right back to where I belong. I try to ride along, and I spin and I spin, but I never get very far, chasing the change. So I will step quietly (ahem) back, and watch the comings and goings, the new and the different. And I will be grateful for the ride.
"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11
There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens.
Ecclesiastes 3:1
