I found out
2014 was a year that was a pivotal year for me and this household. This was my first full year in the Spirit House and they say that a house is truly not a home till you break bread with loved ones at the table (multiple checks), experience death and loss (my friend, Dina Ann LeBlanc May 29, 1964 – June 5, 2014), welcome a newborn (Stella) into the world, plant something in the ground, and start a new relationship.
I’ve gone from creating debt, to just getting above it, to just beginning the journey of getting out of debt – that was the money cycle.
I overscheduled in 2014 which was similar to 2013, 2012, 2011, and pretty much any year you could pick out of my life. But I am getting better at saying no. Or at least I think I am.
I planted a vegetable garden. I planted palm trees and ginger. I planted a satsuma tree and a pear tree.
We celebrated Tin’s 5th birthday here on his trampoline, we celebrated Mardi Gras, Father’s Day and Mother’s Day and held a seder, put skeletons out for Halloween and lit the menorah for Hanukkah and the kinara for Kwanzaa.
I took in a roommate for a few months, which affirmed my faith that living alone is what my soul needs now more than ever – particularly at this stage of raising Tin.
And as luck would have it, I met a man who fits nicely into my life. Stanley. He says there is a “comfort” between us, I say there is a knowing between us. He is moving to Florida in a week or two – that’s not so far away. He needs to be there, and I need to be here. Proving you can be sweet on someone and not have to follow their dreams.
Did I mention I love road trips? He’ll be 4.5 hours away on the beach.
Who doesn’t love the beach?
Stanley and I went to the beach in Gulfport to celebrate the New Year. I realized that more than the big events – the DEATHS, the BIRTHS, the CELEBRATIONS – there are the moments (witnessed as fleeting) where memories unfold that punctuate our lives. My Yogi tea zen dropping was this:
I will not hit you with a bunch of superlatives, but I will say I let Stanley come to me and going away with him was one of the most memorable New Year’s eves I’ve had in my lifetime – and keep in mind, one of my marriages happened 25 years ago on New Year’s eve day, so there are big events within which I compare.
FIREWORKS on the 1st – then a slow steady flame throughout 2015 … I’m grateful for the way this chapter is unfolding.
