The year is coming to a close…and I struggle to write of joyous moments and rhythmic episodes of delight. I know they were there – as I often say, in those spaces in between. They were in the moments with Sophie’s head on my shoulder or singing (so to speak) on our walks; listening to Sienna imitate all the animal noises she knows and feeling the tenderness of her cheek; watching my sons as adoring fathers…the incredible kindness and love of friends near and far; the excitement of a new home (which with a little luck and prayer we will get into next week); sunsets that took my breath and sunrises that gave it back…
Yes…undeniably there have been moments, magical, wondrous moments.
And yet, this has also been a particularly strange and disorienting year. Certainly being in temporary living quarters, without Andy more often than not, has been particularly upending. Somehow as we get older it seems we lose more people – or perhaps age makes us more sensitive to these departures. And in every corner of the world, there is pain – palpable, horrid, unrelenting pain – that one can’t ignore. The faces of children – hungry, broken, scared; real-time nightmares from which one cannot look away. I spend a lot of time seeking comfort, for it all hurts so damn much.
And I don’t get it, I swear I don’t…I don’t get hate, vitriol, bias, ignorance…I don’t get power grabs considered more valuable than the heartbeats of our children – anywhere in the world. What are we doing? Kleenex stock must be doing really well, for I’m certainly using my share.
And yet…yet, I hope. I hope that you all receive all that you wish for and wish for all that you have. I wish that the orbit of the earth, spins just slightly askew, so that we can stop perhaps, rewind and try again to create something enduring and universally reflective of the beauty of the heart. I hope…for all of us..
“Hope
Smiles from the threshold of the year to come
Whispering, ‘it will be happier’ – Alfred Tennyson
Waiting for the Karma Truck 