Loose Leaf Notes

The two most significant events that happened in the year 2006 and continue to stand out for me as I enter 2007 actually happened to my sons. I would be remiss in keeping up with the part of my blog that serves a journal if I didn’t mention them.
At the ages of 24 and 27, both my sons are well settled in adulthood, as evidenced by the milestones they passed and the accomplishments they made this past year. In July of 2006 my youngest son was married. Seeing him and his now wife, Alexis, planning and pulling off a successful and meaningful wedding celebration was like nothing I had experienced before. Watching Dylan take on the role of a caring husband and step-father to Alexis’s six year old daughter has been especially fulfilling for me and my husband, Joe, to witness.
Later in the year, at the end of 2006, my eldest son, Josh, graduated from UNC Asheville with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree. His commitment to art was played out by the manifestation of his Thesis show, “Building Community.” As far as the preparations, execution, and celebration of the show went, it was on the same scale as a wedding. More recently, Josh came full circle when he presented a well-attended slide show in Floyd, also title “Building Community,” and paid tribute to the hometown influences in his life.
Both of these life-changing passages in my son’s lives have changed my life as well and have filled me with awe and emotion. But they are not the most significant events I’m thinking about today. The events I’m referring to happened at the tail end of 2006. I’m still feeling the impact of them as 2007 is ushered in.
In the last few weeks of 2006 both my sons purchased their own homes.

On New Years Eve day, Joe and I drove down Bent Mountain into Roanoke to see for the first time the house that Dylan and Alexis just bought. It was a thrill when Dylan met us at the door in paint splattered work clothes and then showed us around. Later, we all went out to lunch at the Italian restaurant where Joe and I hosted the wedding rehearsal dinner in the summer. As we talked with Dylan and Alexis about the work that needs to be done on the house and discussed the possibility of getting together every month or so to try out new restaurants, the role that Joe and I have embarked on as supportive elder influences in their lives began to take concrete shape for me.
A few weeks earlier while in Asheville for Josh’s BFA Thesis show, Joe and I stood on Josh’s new property, a couple of creek front acres in the country with a waterfall on site. There, he plans to take down and salvage the existing old house, build a pottery studio, and a kiln. Since we were there, we’ve seen pictures of the Airstream motor home he’s currently renovating to live in while he builds.
Both my sons are taking root in new ways. Dylan owns an impressive oak tree in the middle of his new back yard and Josh has a giant weeping willow in the front of his. I remember how successful I felt when I bought my first home, the one that Josh and Dylan grew up in from ages 9 and 11 and that Joe and I still live in. Now, my son’s successes are my successes, which brings me to this:
I had been struggling to come up with some goals and resolutions, as I have in the past when the yearly slate is wiped clean and I can write my new intentions on it. On a New Years Day hike with my husband, the twofold answer to my struggle came to light.
“I’ve just spent this past year following my passion. What would I possibly want to change?” I said to him, referring to the decision we made that I would work less for steady income and would spend more time writing. As an experiment, we both agree it’s been working, especially since I’ve been freelancing regularly for our local newspaper and selling other pieces here and there.
“If I say I want to dance more in 2007 that would be fine, but it would only take away from other activities I love doing. The point is that it’s all good,” I told him. His eyes lit up and he nodded his head with affirmation. “And with Josh and Dylan’s lives taking off in such positive ways, what more would I want?” I asked.
I haven’t come up with any new year’s resolutions because so many of my goals have been manifested and further personal goals seem small in comparison to watching my sons manifest theirs. I’m grateful for all that has happened in 2006, and I hope that 2007 will bring more for me to be thankful for. I guess the only goal I can come up with is that I just want to sit back and be present for whatever life brings my way.
Photos: 1. Joe, Colleen, Alexis, Dylan, Josh, and Kaylee in front. 2. Dylan and Joe in front of Dylan’s house. 3. Josh’s piece of the rock from his waterfall, held up by his youngest brother Skye’s friend.