Dear Allison, Love Allison

A letter to myself written on my 51st birthday, December 29, 2021

Dear Allison,

Happy birthday! Whatever else happens in life, you know you’ve made it to fifty-one amazing, glorious years. While challenges in 2021 brought heaviness, you were proactive and resilient in seeking out and finding the good. Call it selective memory, but the remembrances are more positive than not. You’ve had a good year and many highlights beyond your first colorectal screening…

  • Granddaddy turned ninety and we are thankful he is still strong in mind, body, and spirit
  • Lots of cooking! I worked through decades of recipes torn from magazines, including the (first annual?) Sweet Sixteen baking tournament for the neighborhood.
  • Jack’s room was officially turned into my office—partly because I was teaching virtually and partly to solidify my empty nester status.
  • Jack graduated from Randolph-Macon College—whoop, whoop!—and promptly moved back home, wiping away my empty nester status. He is caddying, loves his job, and I love having him home. He makes me a proud momma.
  • Katherine ran her first half marathon, traveled to Italy for a study abroad program, is a junior at W & M and had a great first semester as an RA with an apartment. She’s amazing and I’m so proud of her.
  • Live music is back! Saw Drew Holcomb (twice) and the Avett Brothers (twice) including a lifetime highlight of seeing them live at the Red Rocks!
  • Paul turned sixty and we celebrated with a trip to two National Parks. Highlights included hiking the Narrows in Zion and riding a mule around the rim of the Grand Canyon.
  • Hiking Old Rag in Shenandoah National Park with my cousin Cathy. I remember hiking it when I was twenty-five…scrambling those rocks at fifty is a whole different story. Maybe I’ll hike it again when I turn seventy-five?
  • Seeing my G-Phi sisters (and some bears!) and cherishing thirty-three years of friendship
  • On our family vacation, falling in love with San Diego’s sea lions and sunsets.
  • Began my 15th year teaching at Haycock in person and still find joy in teaching.
  • Training with Paul to ride the Seagull Century 100 K bike ride.
  • Paul and I celebrated our 25th anniversary with a cozy all-the-maple-syrup weekend away
  • My writing continues to play a big part of my life. I sold a few books and loved volunteering at the high school to teach a journaling class. This year I was published three times: a poem, an article, and an essay in the New York Times. NYT, baby!

Last year, you turned fifty during a pandemic but you still had 365 glorious days to make the most of the year.  You enjoyed so many adventures with friends and family: new restaurants, hikes, bike rides and more. Today may be your birthday but every day’s a gift. Fifty-one, here we go. We got this!

Happy Birthday, Allison!

Love, Allison

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