On New Year's Eve

Well, Christmas is over and I had a great time. Some of my presents were a little strange but still fun. One of them was just a piece of news (more on that in a few weeks) and one was the opportunity to go to Austin and cook and clean house for my daughter who lives there and had surgery on her ankle a week ago. She had lived for a few days on whatever her teenage boys brought her (“I never want to see another Hot Pocket as long as I live!”) So we not only got a lot of time to visit, laugh, and reflect. I got to be a hero for eggs over medium, grilled cheese sandwiches, and hamburger soup. I was a hero to the boys too since they got a chance to get out and do some “teenager” things for a couple of days during their Christmas vacation.

Here we are on the doorstep of a new year and all these things are making me pensive. We have calm excitement on all fronts. From the simple prospect of New Year’s Eve with friends pickin’ and singin’ and makin’ music to the peace, possibly temporary, of having the election over, things seem good. Family stuff is on good tracks, the youngest and her spouse have just about finished remodeling the house they bought a couple of blocks from us, the son seems happy in his job and life, the oldest daughter, in spite of the serious ankle surgery and after many years of struggle to raise her boys and keep things together will graduate from college in May. These things make me happy.

I’m not one for making New Year’s resolutions. That’s mostly because I’m a quick learner. After not keeping them a few times I figured out that the solution for that problem was to not make any more. I’m going to say that this new decision I’m making is not a NYR, just a plan that happened to occur to me on December 31.

I have been letting age creep up on me and I have determined to stop that. Oh, I don’t think I can stop getting older. I’ve announced several times that I was having no more birthdays. That doesn’t work. The arthritis isn’t going away or the blood pressure meds or the ringing in my ears. What I intend to get rid of is thinking of myself as being old. I may have to get rid of all the mirrors in the house but I will if I have to. Just a general warning for those of you who have to put up with me, this will almost certainly mean that I will act sillier than most of my recent behavior. And ladies, any flirting is harmless and not intended to lead anywhere. In spite of the old saying about being as young as you feel, I’ll try to keep my hands to myself.

I hope you all have a great new year and “May the road rise to meet you , may the wind be always at your back, may the sun shine warm upon your face and the rain fall soft upon your fields and, until we meet again, may God hold you in the hollow of his hand"