Grown up Kids
As 2018 winds down we wrap up another whirlwind vacation featuring my Fab Four. No longer children, they are adults in their own right. This seems impossible, considering I will never age beyond twenty-five. But my crew are all thirty somethings and I couldn’t be prouder of the human beings they have become.
Today my daughter and her husband return to Nashville. We’ve had a wonderful week filled with museums, movies, music and the mayhem that ensues once a year. My favorite moment was the organized chaos we orchestrated to prepare dinner. All hands were on deck, four burners and six people created the food while more veggies were chopped and the table for nine was set. We worked together and enjoyed a great meal, accompanied by a rockabilly playlist.
When I set up the Christmas decorations this year, I kept getting a vision of how I would feel when it was all over. I tried to push it away since the presents were still wrapped and the air was filled with anticipation. Now I look back on the week I waited all year for with a certain sense of satisfaction.
Despite running their own respective households, all the kids meld under one roof once again. At the risk of conjuring up memories and nostalgia best lived once, for one week a year we gather together.
The eventual let down of watching everyone return to their lives and adopted home states cannot be avoided. I’m reminded of Brene Brown’s concept of foreboding joy. I could circumvent the denouement but only by never engaging in the first place. So I decorate to take it down, make plans to execute them and revel in the company of my family only to miss them when it’s over.
On the horizon is a year full of promise. January will bring renewed commitments to exercise, lose weight, organize and produce a body of work. Godspeed to you in whatever you pursue. I look back on the last week of the year and the last day of 2018 renewed, refreshed and happy.
Happy New Year 2019!
CBD
