There has been a lot of counting lately. My high school friends and I gathered for a girls’ weekend last weekend. Ten of us were able to make it this year. We have over 600 years of life experience between us, numerous children, a growing number of grandchildren. Several are retired, several are not. We added up numerous purchases at my niece’s shop. We counted and measured ingredients and dough turns and folds at the croissant making class we enjoyed together. The cups of coffee were many, the varied directions of our conversations were many more. Plenty of laughter is always a given too. Count on us to make the most of the time we have. Count on lifelong friends to grow through and go through life’s decades walking a shared path.
The number of adult orphans in this group has grown each year. We have more than a dozen deceased classmates. Over a tenth of our class is gone. The first one died in a car accident barely three months after we graduated from high school. A lot of life missed by a lot of lives. My friends and I each have our own growing list of losses, and also a profound sense of being grateful to be here, to be anywhere. To have shared time together is a treasure.
There have been millions and millions of votes counted in the United States of America in recent weeks. Election Day was November 3. My husband and I voted early, along with millions of others. Many more waited in long lines on Election Day to cast their ballot. Some votes are still being counted. We are witnessing democracy in action and counting on the democratic republic our constitution and its amendments created and preserve. Millions of votes, one vote at a time. My vote matters. Your vote matters. Democracy is alive here. Onward!
We are counting a year this weekend since we brought our little girl Gracie home. She’s our puppy and we are her people. I will admit that the first weeks with a new puppy were a tough adjustment for me in several ways, but it was also a quick path to falling in love with her quirks and personality. My husband Darcy and I know we made the right choice to get another dog and we chose well when we picked her out of the bunch. The last year with her has flown by. Her potty training and kennel time fell into place quickly. Her energy level remains high and she loves other dogs and people. Gracie is so good for us in so many ways.
Counting on. Counting on certain songs to take me back to my younger days or to tap me into feeling the depth of my emotions. We talked about some of our party songs last weekend. I was an emotionally inhibited child. Expressing a range of emotions was not something modeled for me or taught to me. Songs were my outlet from an early age. I can count on songs like “Layla” from Derek and the Dominoes (Eric Clapton), “I Can See Clearly Now” by Johnny Nash, “Without You” by Nilsson, and “The Sound of Silence” by Simon and Garfunkel to tap into that well of mixed emotions I knew as a child already struggling in her own head and heart.
A child that became a teen who developed active alcoholism before she was 20. As a young child, I didn’t understand “Layla” as the sad love song it is. I understood that the ups and downs of the music helped me feel more fully alive. I have come a long way since “Hello darkness, my old friend” landed on my heart. Counting on recovery work and supportive family and friends, a day at a time, an hour at a time.
Counting on coincidences and serendipity. Life is full of them. Here is one from last weekend. My choice of a flowered apron makes me think of my mom. How lovely that the flowers behind me in the picture fit so well. The clock behind me is a reminder to take time to be. Just be. Be right here, right now. How quickly time passes. A week since my friends and I gathered. Four weeks since my son and his new wife got married. A year since we brought Gracie home. Decades since I graduated from high school. Time does indeed fly, and it does indeed get captured in moments we will never forget.
I don’t often post pictures of myself, but this one captures so many things I can count on. A good time with friends. The simplicity of a few ingredients making such delicious crosissants. The presence of my mom in my heart and in the ways I used the kitchen utensils with my own hands.
Count on today bringing more opportunities to count gratefulness and presence and true connections. Onward!
