Everything changes.
Today I am wearing a tank top in Mid-December, enjoying climate-controlled 74 degrees in my ginormous central Florida house---because I have a house in central Florida. Where I live. Weird, right? I have become one of those people. One of the lucky ones to live in paradise. There's a really tall palm tree in our front yard. I can't put my lit-up baby deer decoration on the grass, because we still mow the lawn. Weekly. Last year at this time, my old furnace was groaning because it was below zero outside and it was working so hard to keep the house at 68 degrees. I was dripping my faucets so my pipes didn't freeze and break. This year, I'm hanging my poinsettias by the backyard pool.
I had them lob my long hair off last week. I picked up my new (awesome) glasses today. It's like I'm wearing a disguise. Two weeks ago, for our well-attended Thanksgiving holiday, I looked like a completely different woman from the neck up. Sometimes change is fun.
Life is like that. The sets change. Our theme music exudes ever-evolving melodies. Our stories pile up. But hopefully, and I wish this for all people everywhere, there are some constants. The core people you surround yourself with. Sometimes the lines blur between family and friends...let's just call them our "people." And maybe surround isn't a literal meaning; maybe your people are spread out all over the country. But those who emotionally orbit your soul. The ones you'd drop everything for to go help at a particularly hard or happy time. The ones you would call if you really needed something.
Our other constants: treasured items you wouldn't have time to grab in a fire, but pieces that you would miss greatly if they were lost. My mother-in-law's wedding china with the green edging. The worn blankies both our children were glued to so many years ago. My books and paintings and writings. The photos stored on our computers. Our family's Christmas stockings and the children's homemade ornaments.Too many things to list that, when we see them, bring joy to our hearts.
Change can be difficult. Difficult, as in...it can really suck sometimes. Depending on your age and maturity level, moving for instance can really suck. Leaving your comfortable home and city, school and neighborhood, is painful. Navigating a new life, while applying every effort to maintain who you were and what you did is rocky for a while. Sometimes it takes way too long to feel the bumpy road start to smooth itself out. Hopefully, you make new friends that become like little railings you can use to steady yourself as you seemingly run in circles while you search for familiar landmarks and routines.
We have to trust that this move, this change, holds some value and added meaning to our futures. We have faith that there is a purpose to enduring and conquering, and enduring some more. As we create our new normal.