Wednesday, December 31, 2008

Goodbye 2008


Goodbye 2008, originally uploaded by toyfoto.


I can't say as I'm going to miss it, despite the fact that '08 brought us our first African American President and as real a sense of hope as I can remember.

I won't miss it because 2008 also brought us full-force into the debauchery of our times. It forced us to stand in front of the mirror of our own making and see how much we've actually lost. How much we squandered.

On a personal level, 2008 has been good to our family. It's brought us back to the place we started; it's made us see what's important. We have two, healthy, growing children who happen, at the moment, to adore each other.

We have even prospered enough to risk our sanity and future solvency on a new business venture, which means moving a few houses down the road (hopefully by the summer of the New Year).

But it also means deciding to sell our barn: the place we've realized ourselves and raised our infants. It's where we were married, and where we planted our first tree. It's even where we buried our beloved dog Maggie. Someone else will be walking across the tile floor I installed. Someone else will open and close the big barn doors my father-in-law made. And eventually, someone else will paint over the marks on the wall charting our children's growth from the time they could stand until now.

All of that has next year to play out, but the deciding has taken place in this year.

I'm choosing to look at it as an opportunity to make a new home out of an old house. I'm deciding to look on the bright side and be excited.

Time moves on, so will we.

6 comments:

Fairly Odd Mother said...

It sounds like you have a good plan for the new year. May it be a good one for you. And, I love that photo!

April said...

good luck with the move and happy new year!

Firestarter5 said...

HAPPY NEW YEAR SI, BIG J, ANNABEL, and SILAS

Anonymous said...

Your kids are so gorgeous! Best wishes with your move and the new year. I'm really regretting having written the height marks directly on the wall and not something that is removeable.

kimmyk said...

i have always wanted to live in a barn. always. and you do and you're selling it. that's like...a shame?

i hope your new house is as you want it to be. but i've always said-it doesn't matter where you live or how you live but the people who you put in your house that make it a home.

i'm sure it'll be your home in no time.

but still...i love your barn and that big ass barn door. that thing is like great!

i'm glad to see 2008 go....it sucked.

Anonymous said...

What a beautiful house! Here's hoping you find something you love just as much.

2008 has been full of ups and downs for us too - I'm really looking forward to 2009.