Change Remembered

It’s that time again: Change. Hope. Recollections. Promises.

Been there. Done that. Hope i can do it several more times.

Sarah went out to her wonderful friend’s party. Heather de Ocampo is one of the best. i am wishing both of them a swing upwards and a healthy and happy new year.

i’m wondering how the Austin branch of family is celebrating.

We, are sitting by the fire; Maureen’s new soup is, as always delicious. Her salad, as always of the kind that made my father say if he could have those every night he could be a vegetarian, but i think he forgot about his eggs and Tennessee sausage breakfasts. The fake Christmas tree, a concession to our spending Christmases on Signal Mountain is stored in the garage attic with all of the other decorations that came down. There is little likelihood either of us will make the magic turnover. We are not concerned.

And tomorrow will be a new year. 2019. What lies ahead in the next 365? Can’t tell. One thing for sure, there will be change. Always has been. Always is. Always will be. Change can be good or bad. Disregarding calamities beyond our control, we have the choice to make it good for us or bad for us. Our choice.

Now this is a little more challenging this year: thinking about change. After all, i’ve seen seventy-five years, three-quarters of a century of years with change. And now i’m older. Feel it in my bones (and several other body parts). Not bad considering the things this body has been put through by some nut who didn’t have a lot of sense about what was good for him.

So what about this next year. i’m old enough to not be concerned. It will be. There will be change, good and bad, guaranteed. And you know what? i believe you and i will deal with as necessary to make it as good as you and me can make it for ourselves and others.

As Judy Lewis Gray posted today, this is a remarkable occurrence every year for the opportunity to rejuvenate old promises, resolutions we call them. It’s a remarkable yearly accounting of us with the opportunity for, as we said in the Navy missile world, mid-course correction.

And what do i remember?

Home. Lebanon, Tennessee: a quiet little country town with not a great deal of concern beyond the county limits. Good folks in a place with a dark underbelly we still have not eradicated. Good folks. Gospel singing on Sunday night. Sports. Work. Treating neighbors like neighbors. Friends from church, elementary school, junior high, high school, and beyond and lasting. Forever.

Vanderbilt. A place for gaining lifetime friendships. Good times, bad academic habits. Learning in a place that has evolved into trying to make it right for everyone.

Middle Tennessee State. Working and learning for a change. Dwelling in an academic world of literature i loved then and continue to love today. One of my other passions.

Navy. Ahh, the Navy. The sea. The lady i loved with abandon, with passion. She was my soul mate. Navy ships were my vehicles for communicating with her and making more friends.

Ahh, hell. i could go on and on and on. There are so many folks i would like to share this moment, this precipice of change with tonight. There are so many tales i would like to tell about change in my life. But time is limited, and we are cutting it short in the Southwest corner tonight.

My ingredients are laid out for my black-eyed peas and cornbread for fixing (Tennessee term) tomorrow. We will partake in the afternoon and salute to change and promise.

i hope you have positive change and fulfilled promises in 2019.

3 thoughts on “Change Remembered

  1. We too had our customary New Year supper of black eyed peas, cabbage, mashed potatoes, mac and cheese, cornbread, and iced tea. I am overly full as i usually am when my favorites are prepared. Now if Georgia gets it’s crap together and plays football instead of tiddly winks, my day will be just about perfect. Happy New Year Jim to you and Maureen and Sarah.

  2. My 2019 beginning had a rocky start but with love and support of the people in my life it is nothing more than I can handle and I’m blessed to have you as one of those people. HAPPY NEW YEAR🎉💕

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