Blogging in the New Year

Today I was thinking about how every year, as of late, I welcome in the New Year by hoping it proves to be better than the year that came before it. No longer am I the joyful soul who, as in years long past, would look back wistfully on the year that was ending...sorry to see it over. Often, I found myself focused not on all the blessings I had received, but rather, the disappointments.
Today, however,  I remembered a story that I had read many years ago and thought perhaps, it might hold the key to future happiness.  It was the story of an old beggar woman who sat at the side of the road, on the outskirts of a little town. Passersby would ask her what type of life might await them if they chose to make this town their home. Before she replied, she would first seek to ascertain what type of life they had enjoyed in the town that they were leaving. To those who grumbled that they were leaving a miserable life, one fraught with pain and hardship, she would say that the new town held the same.   To those, however, who said their lives had been joyful, filled with prosperity and happiness, she assured them that more good fortune awaited them here, as well. It was never the town, of course; it is only ones perspective.  So this year, I welcome this new beginning with a grateful heart...and a hope for continued blessings. I will look back at any challenges that I encountered in my past, with the knowledge that I have become a better person because of them. I will also, strive to remember the joys I have known and anticipate, with great excitement, the many new joys, that are sure to await me.
Happy New Year to all.  May this year be as good as you aspire to make it.

Fireflies and Tuna Cans

If one were to travel north from the Detroit area along M-25, a lovely road that hugs the shoreline of Lake Huron, eventually you would come upon  a small town named, Port Sanilac.  Just about a mile past the town's only traffic light, tucked away on the right-hand side of road, lies an oasis from the desert that is city life. It is a place called, "Holiday Beach Resort".  Resort is really far too pretentious a word to describe what is essentially a very modest, recreational vehicle campground, yet it is a place of respite from the toils and travails that help to define most of our existence.  Its allure rests not upon its man made amenities, for its grounds boast very few of them. It is rather the lack thereof, that makes the place so enchanting. It is where one can still choose how to spend one's own time, because technology doesn't dictate the choices for you. It is a place where a summer day is reminiscent of days long past.  Where meals are eaten, not according to the clock, but according to when the stomach growls, the badminton game has ended, and the last sandcastle has been constructed.  It is a place replete with shooting stars and fireflies, and the sounds of a crackling campfire upon which marshmallows are carefully toasted.  It is the place that my husband and I chose to get to know our children, and maybe each other, as well.  It is the place where we came to realize that in order to have memories to cherish, one must take the time to make them first.