Been & Gone

Just when you think it's going to be another year, much like last, friends have a way of making significant changes. New relationships can be altered, solidified, never the same again. Try new things, enjoy these new things. Never go back.

From the dangling heart deco to shared chocolate kisses, we reach for something and can't find it, even though it's never gone. Say goodbye to our loved ones and rekindle other familial relationships. Life is too short to let the angered past linger. Love and be loved.

Muster the courage to reach for your dreams. No matter how singular or fanciful they may seem. Everything is attainable if you just try. Take chances and you can't ever be disappointed.

After the cold of winter has marred your bones, embrace the newness of spring. Even the old can become new again.

Maybe being alone isn't all it's cracked up to be. Weeks of looking forward to quiet, abruptly shocked from your own silence. Chaos is bliss when a toddler is in the house. Don't take it for granted. Enjoy the company of friends, the warmth of a hug, the sweetness of cupcakes, a gentle hand on your forehead, but never forget what you truly live for. The squeals of a child, the rush of footsteps over the floor.

Jell-o? Who wants Jell-o? Everyone wants Jell-o when the weather turns hot. The squiggly, jiggly little dessert that melts in your mouth or on the carpet.

Jackets are left on the floor as we rush to the beach, or prepare for a camping trip. It's the first as a family and everything has to be just right. Don't forget the flashlight, what do you need a hammer for? Camping stove? Who needs that? We have fire. Precious fire.

Another year older, the little one opens her presents around a campfire. Smoke smothering the senses, the sun shining after a random summer shower. Cooler than the last time, all huddled in the tent, noses close to frostbite. It's only August. What's up with that?

Snapshots show the reality of what we have become. Time to take action. Make your life matter. The summer has been fun but it's time to think about me and all that can be accomplished, if only...

Oh, the Hallowe'en noises. The hoots and howls of little ghouls and goblins. A child dressed in fancy closes, an image of what they could be. Door to door, in the already frigid cold. Trick or treat. By the end of the night her pillowcase overflows and her teeth may rot.

Now it snows. Not much, but enough. Enough to remind us winter is around the corner, Christmas is upon us and the end of the year nears. Have we done enough this year to look back and say, yes, I did it. I did what I wanted to and now I can move forward knowing that I can accomplish anything? I think it went okay so far.

Didn't the Mayans say the world was going to end? It's the end of December and we're all still standing or sitting or sleeping off the turkey we over-indulged on. Soon it will be another year. But for now, this one has been and gone.