All the Things of 2021: Our Year in Review
To every season, there is a thing (or two, or three…).
Before we get too far into 2022, it’s time for my year-end review of 2021. To recount the difficult things we’ve survived. To remember the good things we’ve enjoyed. But mostly, to give thanks for all the things.
Here are All the Things of 2021, as they unfolded for our family, season by season.
Winter
A boomerang thang:
We began the year with both girls living at home again. Chloe took a 3-week online geometry class for her last interim term. Leah began the final step in her formal education with a 6-month internship in South Bend. Since they had both boomeranged home before Thanksgiving, we were well into the groove of living together again as a family of four.
A house thing:
After 23 years in our home, we celebrated paying off our mortgage and in January began making plans for some long-overdue home renovations, including 2 bathrooms and the kitchen. Little did we know that due to the high demand for construction projects and contractors, this would be a 4-season job and the kitchen makeover wouldn’t wrap up until December!
Some mountain things:
Tom, Chloe, and I were able to take a short getaway to Colorado to visit Jared at the beginning of February before Chloe went back to Minnesota for her final semester. Our time in the mountains was fabulous, with hikes over frozen lakes in Rocky Mountain National Park, more hiking (and shopping) around Boulder, a sweet visit with old friends, a trip to the Red Rock Amphitheater on a very warm spring-like day, and (after Chloe flew home) some downhill skiing at Winter Park on a couple of very cold and snowy winter-like days.
Spring
A hard thing:
As the days grew longer, my mom, who had been in home hospice care since late October of 2020, began to slowly fade as her time on this earth came to a close. I’m so thankful for the extra time I spent helping to care for and just being with her in her final months. Mom joined Dad in heaven on March 31, just four days before Easter. She always had a way of bringing the family together for big holidays, and this year was no exception. On Easter Monday, we celebrated her life and the promise of the resurrection for all who believe. Saying goodbye to both of my parents in a 9-month span has not been easy, but the closeness of our family and the good memories we share comfort me.
Celebratory things:
Tom and I marked our 33rd anniversary on April 16 with a short getaway to Chicago. In late April, we breathed a sigh of relief along with Leah as she walked across the stage at Indiana Wesleyan University to receive her degree in Music Therapy. Jared decided to make Colorado his “forever home” (for now). He sold his house in Austin and bought a house in Denver to seal the deal.
Late May brought the fun of our grandson Oliver’s first birthday and the obligatory cake-smashing. Then a week later on a warm Saturday afternoon, we were filled with emotion as Chloe, our youngest, graduated with a double major in math and classics in a COVID-friendly outdoor ceremony at St. Olaf College.
Summer
Lots of things:
As school let out in June and I wrapped up another year as a speech-language pathologist, I joined my sisters in setting up a huge garage/estate sale. After going through my parents’ home and distributing all of the treasures we could find to the various children and grandchildren, we discovered there were still mounds of things remaining. The sale was a lot of work, but seeing our parents' things appreciated and finding good homes for them helped us through the healing process.
A 3-wheeled thing:
Tom turned 60 in July–a reminder that we’re not spring chickens anymore! With his knee slowly mending from a bad twist on the ski slope earlier in the year and back problems persisting for over a year, it was a real challenge for him to do what he loves most, i.e. ride a bike. After much research and debate, he bought a recumbent tricycle so he could continue his summer wheeling adventures. Update: a recent minor back surgery has given him hope of returning to his 2-wheeler in the future, even though he plans to keep the trike around for the different (i.e. fun!) experience it offers.
That lake thing:
We spent the first half of July at Cass Lake, Minnesota–our annual tradition. We were thrilled to have Seth, Maddie and Ollie join us for the first week and the girls, who had a lull between school and work, spent both weeks “up north.” We missed having Jared with us as he was super busy renovating and sprucing up his new home to get it ready to rent out through Airbnb. While we were fishing in the sun, Jared became a self-taught plumber (thanks to Youtube) and re-plumbed his entire house!
Fall
Working at things:
After working remotely for Notre Dame’s library for a year and a half, Tom was finally asked to report to work in person again (much to his chagrin). I also headed back to work for what will be my last year. Yes, I intend to retire at the end of this school year!
Leah passed her board certification exam and was offered a job as a music therapist in South Bend. And Chloe accepted a job with our local public library as a community engagement associate. Both girls are still/again living at home but dream of escaping (as we dream of empty-nesting again!). Leah is saving up to get her own place and Chloe, after discovering her love of libraries runs deep, is applying to grad schools in hopes of earning a Master of Library Science (MLS) degree.
Jared continues to work remotely for Indeed.com and is thankful for the flexibility it offers him. He fills what spare time he has with hiking, running, and climbing (which keeps this mama praying!).
Maddie is again teaching special education in Grand Rapids. When she’s not busy with Ollie, pastimes of reading, sewing, and training their new pup, Kida, keep her busy. Seth enjoys his job as a field technician/project coordinator for a communications design company. When he’s not busy with Ollie, you can find him on a bicycle or playing D&D online with his self-proclaimed fellow “nerds”.
Ollie works at climbing and learning and growing. Now 19 months old, he amazes us with his physical prowess and expanding vocabulary, and keeps us laughing with his silly antics, dance moves, and general cuteness. He loves his daycare provider and friends and spends one day a week at his close-by grandma’s house. About once a month, this grandma (and sometimes grandpa) squeezes in an Ollie-day too, with hopes for more upon retirement.
Riding things and writing things:
After a very slow COVID year of biking, Tom, Seth, and I got back on our bikes in 2021 and were happy to see some of our organized rides return as well. We met up in Stevensville (MI) for the Beer 30 Ride and had fun stopping every 5 or 6 miles for a “tasting.” The crowning achievement this year was the Apple Cider Century in Three Oaks (MI). Tom and I together each rode a metric century (62 miles) with him on his trike and me on my road bike. Seth completed the century (100 miles) –his second one for the year!
In October, I attended my first in-person writers’ conference and then went to the “Empty Nest, Full Life” retreat with Jill Savage (author of the book by the same name), where I had an exhibit table and made many reader connections for my website. My writing hobby continues to develop with hopes of it becoming more of a part-time job when I retire!
Winter again
Watching things and eating things:
With the girls home, we’ve established some new routines. Once or twice a week, the three of us look at each other and say, “Is it a GG night?” Tom isn’t into “Gilmore Girls” so he often heads to bed while we watch an episode or two (I think our record binge is four!). After almost a year, we are on season 6 out of 7 and already wondering what we will do when it’s all over.
Still, nights together at home are infrequent. Both girls have joined a young adults’ small group at our church (and Leah attends a second weekly young adult group), they volunteer on the praise team, and often babysit for church families. Along with Tom, a.k.a. Cookie Monster, they helped out with “Trunk or Treat” this fall.
In her spare time, Leah has started a Disney Movie Project. She’s created a list (a huge list!) of over 1400 Disney movies she is watching and rating. I don’t know much about TikTok, but I hear she has an account devoted to her reviews. I introduced her to one of my old Disney favorites, “Snowball Express”, on Christmas Eve. The special effects from 1972 were, shall we say…interesting?
When Chloe isn’t too tired from a busy day at work, or reading one of the books she’s brought home from the library, she loves spending time in the kitchen and posting photos of her creations on her Instagram page: chloemakesfood. She just made me a batch of her amazing granola…yum! There are definitely some perks to having my girls home for a season.
Holiday and health things:
Over Christmas, our nest was very full! Jared came home for a week-long visit! Seth, Maddie, and Ollie, after a round of COVID (their first) and the required isolation time, also dropped in for four days. Remember the show “Eight is Enough?” 😉 That was us and our full house!
We were able to see most of my family the day after Christmas (-3 due to COVID), and Tom’s family the day after that (-2 due to COVID). That darn virus sure likes to wreak havoc on our lives! Thankfully, our families have all been vaccinated (though not all boosted yet), resulting in mild cases.
Like everyone else, we are tired of this pandemic and praying for some relief from its grip.
The main thing.
During this season of giving, my heart is full of love and gratitude for my family and friends, far and near. I give thanks for the connections I’ve made this year with new readers and pray that my words will be an encouragement to all.
In the book 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, Stephen Covey writes, “The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing.” With so many things vying for our attention, it’s easy to lose sight of the main thing. Christmas reminds us of that thing in a big way, and since my decorations are still up, I am still reminded.
Our Christmas clock chimes the eleven o’clock hour with the tune of “O Come All Ye Faithful” and I look up to see the bright red “Joy to the World” pillow sitting on the couch. That, my friends, is the main thing. That Love came down in the form of a baby to bring JOY to this hurting, broken world.
I hope and pray that you will find that joy and the peace only He can bring, in 2022.
