Merry Island Christmas My Loves!
As I sat and compiled this slide show and all of its photos, I sifted through the last year of our lives in technicolor freeze-frame. I saw the photographic chronicles of our adventures (and what adventures they have been), and I remembered the phrase: It's not the years in your life, but the life in your years. (I think that was Ye Olde Abraham Blinkington as Ellie would call him.)
The laughter we have shared, the love, the music, and the tears. The depth of this human experience is only quantifiable in guttural pangs of the heart that can only be mutually understood if you've been there yourself. And now, as we stand on the doorstep of a new year, ripe with unknown possibilities and adventures, I can't help but imagine what lies ahead for this merry band of voyagers on the ship of Life. I expect more laughter, more heartbreak and eventually more tears, but in the midst of it all, I pray I remember to stop and soak all of those moments in; tucking them gently into the soft corners of my mind. ( Wow, that last sentence was lengthy enough to impress Faulkner!)
Today was our first Christmas on Guam and as I sat watching my children bounce on their new trampoline in the golden, pink-edged haze of sunset; I felt the temperate breeze on my skin and took several deep and heady breaths. I felt a sense of resounding satisfaction and completeness in my soul and despite the mess of boxes and paper inside, I was intensely happy. Even though I know our time here has an expiration date and tomorrow may be wrought with trials unknown, I am hopeful and excited for whatever lies ahead. Even if it is a wall scribbled in sharpie and crayon mashed into the carpet. (PLEASE remind me of that tomorrow when I'm screaming about the sharpie and the crayon.)
Merry Christmas to all of our friends scattered across this big, beautiful world. And may the coming year find you well and blessed, but whatever trials you may face, may you grow stronger and stand taller in their wake.
"God bless us, every one."