I love to get those sweet newsletters this time of the year. I’ve read three so far this year, including Aunt Florence’s email version. They are always so sweet and poignant.

And. . . then there’s my version. It wants desperately to be deep, poignant, something, but it usually degenerates into some kind of list. I go to the calendar and then recite a list of all the events of the year. BORING! But, am I actually capable of melting a year down into a nutshell?

I’ll try.

It was rough. And God is good. I really didn’t expect to lose Mommy. It seemed like she would live forever. None of us really knew how poor her health was until it was too late. We still felt in the dark, even at the end. It was incredibly painful. And, then, at her funeral, I met Toby, one of her cousins, for the very first time. I think the last time Daddy saw him was at his 1962 wedding. His big sister had been a cause of jealousy in my mother as a child. Mommy should have seen how much Tona looked up to her. She was so heartbroken at the funeral that she kissed the body. (for the second time, I might add).

I was a little pregnant at the funeral. This pregnancy was marked by an unearthly chill that started at the base of my neck and radiated over my whole body–for the first three months or so. The chills stopped around the same time as my Y membership expired and I could no longer swim twice a week. Go figure!

Yanni really came into her own in the kitchen this year. She created a few of her own recipes, and began planning most of our dinners, especially postpartum. Sweets are still her specialty, and she got two great dessert cookbooks for her birthday. She was invited to cook at Dr. Ray’s farm for his various educational groups.

Xay won the chess tournament at our church’s superbowl party. At just shy of 11, Xay beat a teenage boy to win a glass chess/checkboard/backgammon/tictactoe set. He is studying up to soundly beat the competition again this year. Xay also won a portable DVD player for bringing the most people to Champ Camp, our church’s version of Vacation Bible School. Xay gave up playing video games this year, and became more active outdoors as a result. He took up fishing, cutting down trees, and he started his Attactix club.

Imani is 6. She learned how to read this year, finishing two summer reading programs and enjoying all her prizes. She improved in swimming, swimming a length of the pool in freestyle and back stroke. Imani also enjoys riding her bike, playing the piano and drawing.

Joyous is 4. She likes to collect leaves and berries, and other natural artifacts. I have to plan for a walk with her to take extra time to stop and smell the roses. Joy also enjoys swimming and drawing.

Esteban, at 2, is a very athletic child. He enjoys baseball, bowling, tennis, and football, but basketball is by far his favorite. He practices on his little hoop in the classroom. He is also quite the talker, adding new words to his vocabulary daily.

Yasha was born in September this year, and that has been a major upheaval in our family. Born at home at 11:12 A.M., by 1 P.M., we discovered that she’d stopped breathing. She and I rode to the hospital in separate ambulances, and she ended up staying for 5 weeks. We brought her home with an apnea monitor and a feeding system and 5 medications. She is currently still on the feeding system and two medications. We have been praying for her miraculous healing for three months, and will continue to do so until it occurs In the meantime, we have drawn closer to God, and the atmosphere in our home is getting sweeter daily. We will never be the same again.