{Dear Martha Anne} Worth Remembering

Dear Martha Anne,

The holidays of 2013 were a total dream.  We are back in the Midwest curled up in our cozy living room, our families over a thousand miles away.  I'm sad to see the season go.  Yet 2014 promises some great adventures that I welcome with an eager heart.

Before I jump into 2014, however, I need to linger just a moment longer on the wonderful month we spent with family and friends.  An abundance of food, games, music, blankets, caroling, parties, family, friends, and love carried the days away too swiftly.  We played too many games of Settlers of Catan and Ticket to Ride to number, had too many rounds of Mario Cart and Mario Party to count.  At Midnight Mass on Christmas Eve, I had the pleasure of sharing my bench with a white dove most likely seeking shelter from the snowy night.  On New Year's Eve, I began the celebration crammed under a couch, the rest of my family spread out in other dark corners of the house, the note on the front door directing our expected guests to "seek us."  It became a night of loud laughter and silly games that kept us going long past the chime of midnight and a new year.

In the process of such memory making it became harder and harder for the husband and I to imagine returning to school and our faraway home, but in a moment of serendipity I found this note I wrote to myself a couple of months ago:

As hard as it is to leave our place of roots, I remember how much I believe in travel.  You learn things when you uproot and move.  As happy and comfortable as we were in Cedar City, I can't imagine staying that way now that I know the stretch it takes to "adventure"--to meet new people, expand your horizons, try out a new place and culture.  Once again, I get the feeling of what a big world it is and how much there is to be had and learned by exploring it.

I look forward to traveling this world even more, running its beauty through my fingers and saturating myself in its wonders.  Before I go bounding off, though, I want to leave a look of one of our last, most beautiful days home.

Happy New Year, Martha Anne.  We may not see you soon, but we know where home is.

Love,

K