Thursday, December 31, 2015

So Long 2015 - Welcome a Brighter 2016!



As 2015 is coming to an end, I like to reflect on the past year and write about the hope of 2016.
We've faced some big stress this year...career changes, a financial squeeze, and health challenges in our aging parents to name a few.  It's been tough.  But life is like that, up and down.  Which is why I like the photo's above of the boys jumping.  Leaping up towards the light, over and over again.  A real metaphor for my experience of 2015.   

Both of the boy's grandfather's had health issues this year - my dad had a stroke and Anna's dad had a stent put in his heart.  They were both remarkably strong and are faring well as the year closes.  I like to believe that they are even better prepared to face 2016.

To say we soared through this year would be a lie.   Anna and I hobbled and at times we crawled.  Anna's business came to a close and this was heartbreaking and difficult.  She invested so much passion, heart and soul, but in the end realized that the best thing she could possibly to do was to let go.  And she did.  She was remarkable in her ability to handle such a difficult situation and to live by her values all the way to the end.  Sometimes life is like that too, deceptive.  And you have to find your way to the light again.  This experience sharpened our priorities... living and working with integrity and surrounding ourselves with love, friends and family.  It has been a great life lesson for sure and I know that often the greatest challenges can bring unforeseen gifts.  

Which brings us to the gifts of the past year (and their were plenty):

First of all we have a new nephew, Kaj, and a new great niece, Adalyn.  They have been such delightful additions to 2015.   

Next, our niece Jamie got engaged to her boyfriend whom we love.   We are so looking forward to their wedding in 2016. 

Also, the boys had a very good year.  Eight and ten are beautiful ages and the boys have grown into these so nicely.  They both love school - remarkable!- and each invest fully in their learning.  They are bright, curious, and engaged kids.   They have been healthy, strong.  They have many friends and  possess a real loyalty to them.  They remain best of friends with one another and look out for each other in a way that makes my heart swell.  They are both amazing readers, fabulous mathematicians and imaginative artists.  Their school provides ample opportunities to create and for this I am grateful.  They are quite tall, still fabulously blonde, truly handsome and loving. Kindness is important to them.  As a family we have this at the top of our list and they echo this in their daily lives.  This is a real gift. 

This year brought some great vacations...Watch Island in the Adirondacks and Truro in Cape Cod. Both fantastic, both gorgeous, both fun, both full of connection.   We have spent a lot of time with our families this year - in New Hampshire, New York and here in Vermont. We also were lucky to spend some of our vacation time with our friends.   Families together with kids of similar ages is a great way to spend time. 

Anna opened a new business, Struktur, with her good friend Sandra and this has been a welcome change. Sandra is a phenomenal business partner and they are off to a fantastic start.   Work for me remains highly engaging and fulfilling - I continue to feel super duper lucky to play a role in transforming the way children learn in schools.

We bought tickets to Sweden in 2015 and are headed there in the summer of 2016.  This is thrilling us already.  We'll be gone for almost 5 weeks, visiting Swedish family and traveling throughout the country.   We are so looking forward to this trip. 

I started taking yoga classes in 2015, and the funniest thing of all, is that I never anticipated how much I would love it.   It's perhaps the best thing that has happened to me this year.  Gifting me with a body wisdom and peaceful knowing that soothes even the tiniest part of me. 

Without a doubt we are ready to let 2015 go and we welcome all the shininess of 2016.

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