What Matters Most

It is almost the end of another year -2013 will soon be memories.  I like to spend the end of the year organizing and re-arranging, which starts as I begin to pack away all of our christmas decorations.  As I carefully packed each ornament away, I am reminded of so many years of rituals, traditions and old friends that have contributed to the specialness of the holidays.

In 1985 I began a tradition of inviting friends over for a tree decorating party and although it was not planned, I have many decorations contributed to our tree from dear friends over the years.  Recently our grandsons have been the primary decorators and they love to hear the stories as I give them the special ornaments to hang. And in my mind, the stories and the parties live on.

Both of our daughters were home for Christmas, Jenn from New York, and Liz here with her husband and 3 sons.  The holidays are always made brighter with family and I am thankful again for mine.  We shared meals together, made cookies and worked on our christmas puzzle.  (A family tradition that pulls us quietly together as we reassemble the picture as shown on the box.)  We spent Christmas morning at Liz's house savoring the excitement of young boys enjoying another Christmas.

And now, Jenn is back in New York, Liz is celebrating with her husband's family, and I am organizing and re-arranging in anticipation of the new year.  My library of books is beckoning me to look at what I have yet to read, my writings are patiently waiting my return.  I have wonderful things ahead of me in 2014, but I wrap up this year,  knowing that I have lived the year loving and loved.  And that is what matters most.

Life is Always Good!

Good Memories

Jim and I took Sunday off from working on our house to drive to Brown County, Indiana.  We have wonderful memories of going to Nashville and wanted to check it out again after all these years. We walked through shops and made some small purchases, but our goal was to go to the Brown County Inn for a bowl of French Onion Soup.  We were not disappointed.  The Corncrib bar looked the same as we remembered, our favorite beer was on tap and the soup was beyond delicious.

After we left the Inn, we drove through the state park and ended up at Ogle Lake.  We walked to a shelter where someone had left a fire in the fireplace.  Jim and I quickly gathered up some wood and soon had the fire blazing and we sat and talked and enjoyed the beautiful day with the wonderful fire.

A lot of our conversation started with "remember when…." and we both would recall something that we shared from our past.  It is so fun to have this sharing of our lives together - sharing Good Memories from a Good Life!

Life is Always Good!