“For last year’s words belong to last year’s language and next year’s word’s await another voice.”
~T.S. Eliot
It is difficult to fathom that it is nearly over—this year of spectacular highs and devastating lows—but truth is like that sometimes.
One year ago today we sat in my mother’s living room— a rally of the troops—surrounding her with our love, admiration, and support— an attempt to shield her from what was to come. As we raised our glasses to toast the New Year, we made our proclamation: Life will be Heaven in 2011— enjoy every moment.
We could not have known then, with the clanking of our glasses, that enjoying every moment, would most assuredly be the prerequisite for surviving the coming 365 days.
The powdery white words I would later write on our kitchen blackboard in the early morning hours of 2011 would become our mantra. A mini-manifesto. Our credo to live by in the New Year. We were thinking from the end with this powerful declaration and almost immediately our intentions began to manifest. Without invitation and always unannounced, a multitude of magical moments simply showed up on my doorstep wanting only to be acknowledged and enjoyed. I mastered the art of being and staying present, taking the moments in, and going with the flow. Looking back over the year I am filled with gratitude for the time I shared with my mother. I did, indeed, enjoy every moment—every glorious, golden moment—a heavenly gift for which I am eternally grateful.
Now, the New Year is upon us and with it, new words and a new way.
