For the first time since Tony died, I found myself in town for New Years Eve. I have spent the last four years ringing in the new year anywhere but home. Part of me was dreading being here with all the couples I’m friends with when the clock struck midnight. The unknown of how it […]
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Unexpected Havens
Writing this in Real Time early New Year’s Day. At precisely 12:01am, I experienced a deep sense of relief that 2025 had concluded softly without the loss of an immediate family member. I lost Rich in late 2021, my nephew who was the son of my late sister in May 2022 and my father and […]
Turning the Page on Another Year
I’m writing this on New Year’s Day, 2026. I’m honestly really glad to bid farewell to 2025. And for the first time in probably 10 or more years I actually did something with a few friends for New Year’s Eve. I fired up my two old Technics SL-1200 DJ turntables and played some old techno […]
Season’s Greetings
Today is New Year’s Day. By chance, I also posted here most recently on Christmas Day. Does my holiday timing forecast a propitious 2026? Only time will tell. Regardless, my dreams are modest. In fact, these days I’d be satisfied maintaining a status quo of sorts. Importantly, my 2026 status quo will no longer include […]
Rain, New Year’s Eve
by Maggie Smith Its New Year’s Eve and I’m arriving here late. It’s raining in So Cal about half a day’s worth, anyway. Perhaps Maggie’s poem will provide an insight or two. Sending love and light to all for a Happy New Year! Happy beginnings everyone…. we welcome another chance in […]
Serenity
My first Christmas without Jim has passed – and spending it in the hills of Tennessee with my brother and sister-in-law was the very best thing I could have chosen to do. Quiet. Peaceful. Plenty of childhood reminiscing. Lots of trees and deer, a horse that visits, and their furry son, Dexter, to help me […]
My Stocking
The Christmas décor has already been packed away. Another Christmas passed and further away from when Tony was here. I’ve convinced the kids we don’t need to put up the tree anymore. It’s so heavy and a lot of work put up and tear down. There are no believers in my house anymore and it […]
Updating Software
And once again, we are sooo close to another New Year. And, Lynn’s Angelversary (Death Anniversary) is December 3. So for these two reasons, the month of December feels like a big ol’ transitional, reflective, “purgatory” type of mini-chapter. Last year in December, I also helped sell my childhood / my parent’s home, which they […]
Every Day is a Holiday
There are literally 45 minutes remaining in Christmas Day 2025 as I begin to write this post. Having just spent time on a variety of sites for the widowed on Social Media, many commenters were counting down the minutes and hours for the day to be over. Many more relayed how they’d dreaded the days […]
A Quiet Christmas
When I was growing up, we never had huge family gatherings for holidays. I can remember maybe a handful of Christmas days where my grandparents on my dad’s side stopped by for like an hour (and they only lived like 15 minutes away). I think a couple times my uncle, also on my dad’s side, […]
A Brief Family Reunion
This week, I am hosting Cousin Judy, who settled in California (by way of Montreal) many, many years ago, after moving away from here as a young married person. She and her husband had two children. Judy has been a widow for at least the past fifteen years. One day, she came home from work […]
Approaching Year’s End
Closing Down 2025 Tomorrow is Christmas Eve. My feeling? Pretty chill, actually. I’m saving my present wrapping for tomorrow after church. We draw names, so only one special person’s presents require wrap. No party happening here, so no busy prep. I plan to sit by my brightly lit tree to wrap my gifts and then […]