Year in Review

There are apps out there that allow you to pull your 2021 year into your top list of the things that happened to you. I decided that I would use my blog for that instead. I know 2021 was another year filled with difficulties and trying times, but I think 2021 was a year filled with new triumphs and blessings. I thought the best way to blog was to make a list of my “pecans” that were life changing for me and my family.

January was a challenge, but February came in with a renewed friendship with my college roommate. Cheri needed a place to stay while helping her brother through a serious surgery. What a great time we had together! Cooking dinners together and reliving memories through talking about our time together at school was the best and lasted into April. May came along and brought the graduation of my baby boy from East Carolina. He had a job secured before graduation. Off to Norfolk, VA he would be going in July. In fact, both of my sons moved out in July. The oldest was still in town, but getting his own place after moving back in after his college graduation. The summer was full of trips to the beach and visiting Cheri in SC. We had a great trip to Savannah! And let me not forget that my first short story was published in Navigating Elder Care and Dementia by Chicken Soup for the Soul. Then it was time to start back to school.

This is where the year became a little complicated. I was so excited about being face to face with students again after 18 months and had such high hopes for the year. It was not to be as I thought. It was more difficult than my online teaching. Students were set back in their social skills and did not know how to act in school. It was not what I had anticipated and not what I hoped. Disappointed and overworked were just the beginnings of how I felt. Then the fall came around.

When it came around, I turned 51 and my world did not fall apart. In October, I finally found a doctor that was able to give me some answers for my chronic pain. Fibromyalgia was the diagnosis and I was okay with it. After 3 years of appointment after appointment and month after month of physical therapy, it was good to know that there was truly a problem. I was beginning to think it was all just me.

Then, November rolled around. I went to an incredible writer’s conference in Nashville, Tennessee. It was a big deal for me because I had never been on a trip by myself just for myself. Then, the amount of knowledge I received was amazing. I’m still reading all the books I bought from the authors that I met! Also, in November, my youngest surprised me by proposing to his wonderful girlfriend, Emily. Now I am getting the daughter I always wanted. Wedding plans are in the making! Then December rolled around. I had a wonderful Christmas. I usually struggle around the holidays, but this year I did not. I was full of joy and the realization that I was loved by many. And that is the greatest “pecan” of all. The love that was showered down on me from God. I know that He is the one that scattered these pecans and many more all through my 2021. I’m not sure how 2022 will turn out, but I am looking forward to the possibilities. Happy New Year! May yours be filled with pecans!