“Is this the New Year or just another night? Is this the new fear or just another fright? Is this the new tear or just another desperation?” from Switchfoot “The Blues”

As I roar into 2025, with all its continuing responsibilities, joys, terrors, and moments of wonder, I pause to to consider. What will be “new” about this year? There are numerous possibilities. Some I hope for while some I dread.

Is this the year I publish my first children’s book? Two of my book babies are out on sub (sitting in editors’ email boxes, waiting judgment). I try not to think about this too much. Instead, I furiously pound the keys on my laptop, creating new stories. One of my babies will make it into the world someday.

This will be the year my mother’s condo will be sold, finishing that chapter in her life. Sorting through her possessions, saving treasures for grandkids, will take time and many boxes. For the past two years, she’s stayed with either my husband and me or my brother and his wife. Mom said good-bye to my dad a few years ago and now will say good-bye to their home. At 91 years old, she’s given up much of her old life but gained more time with her kids and great-grandtwins.

As I begin to plan camping trips and Harley overnighters for this year, I realize these events are all written in pencil. One lesson God has taught me well over the past few years is that grand plans can be easily cancelled by emergencies. Since the pandemic, I’ve learned to hold my plans loosely.

However, that doesn’t release me from the responsibility to plan. One thing I’ve learned over the years is that if you don’t plan anything, nothing happens. Instead of waiting for friends to call me, I call them and set up times to get together. As I march through the life I’ve been given, time with friends is fleeting. My husband and I have said good-bye to many friends, through death and moving away. We enjoy sharing Harley rides, lunches, dinners, and game nights with the people God’s put in our path. Hopefully, we can get them to laugh and encourage them a little.

Is this the new year? It can be. It will be. And I can’t wait to see what will happen next.