December 19, 2025
Friday

I’ve used this picture and its sentiment twice during this time of year.  One year I remarked, “I kind of want the Old Me back.”

And that’s where I am tonight. After the news, when I sighed at the desecration of the facade of the Kennedy Center in Washington, I started to gather all the physical materials I think I’ll need for my year-end review and retreat. Into a large reusable shopping bag went the five notebooks that comprise my J for the year (450 pages, 8.5×11), a Passion Planner large size (it was PP’s suggestions I was following) that I kept erratically, a folder full of “how to review the year and learn from it” materials, some going back to the 1980s, and . . . and I wasn’t close to finished. I still needed art materials, colored pencils.

Nope. Nope, nope, and again I say, nope! I want the Old Me back, the woman of courage and peace and accomplishment I was before I had to shrink to fit a singular purpose. Don’t misunderstand me. Though I know I made some mistakes, I am grateful that I could do that, be that, for a dying spouse. It’s time for some forward motion. I followed Ron into the dark, and some of you, reading this, were there. Now, follow me into the light, as I follow you.