The Monkeyboy is off in Texas with his dad visiting the rebel side of the family for the holidays. In practical terms, this means that the kid has had nearly a solid two weeks of Christmas. To expound on said practical terms, this means he's opened a LOT of presents. :)
I was in Pittsburgh for the turn of the new year, celebrating the wedding of two people I didn't know, but there with someone that I do (and who knows the happy couple). So I spent New Year's Eve ambling around a wedding reception marvelling at the year behind me...and smiling with wonder at this new couple who were so happy to be officially "together" you could have popped them with a pin. It was, admittedly, a little bittersweet, given everything...but also unabashedly beautiful. And it was encouraging to turn over a new year with an understanding friend (thanks, R!)
The Monkey called on New Year's morning as we were getting ourselves ready to head back to DC. He'd obviously been coached on what to say, but (him being him) he put his own spin on it as he bubbled into the phone:
Happy Present Year, Mommy!!
(after two weeks of gift opening, he must feel like it's present year -- and all for him!! :)
Anyway, I spent a lot of time with his cryptic greeting on the (5 hour) drive home...and it occurs to me that's really what I want: a present year. I want this year to be a year of "now"s...of present moments -- not berating myself about the past, not over-eager for the future...a year of making the best possible choice in the now.
The future and the past are inevitable and inescapable...but it's the present that I can impact...and those little decisions that I make right now that will determine the stories I tell about my past and the possible shape of my future.
So, I'll raise a virtual glass... Cheers to 2006: Year of the Present!
3 comments:
Hm. How to make 2006 the year of the present. (I thought it was the year of the dog, but whatever.) I could give you a present in 2006. I could even present you with a present, then we'd get in both pronunciations of the word. I wouldn't count on me remembering, though. Perhaps you could give a presentation at work. Or you could represent your state at a convention. You could think about the omnipresence of nitrogen, or help me learn to speak in French in someting besides the present tense.
Remind me to play you the Veggie Tales "Homophones" song. :)
Wow, you did blog about the same thing. Weird.
I am with you, let's make it a year of presents!
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