Beth Ferrier’s Blog

Here it is, six hours shy of a new year. Not a new decade, as mathmatical purists will point out, but close enough. No more “two thousand and” to name the year, we’re familiar enough with this century to use its nickname, twenty-ten.

Astronomers tell us this is an extra special turn of the calendar. A blue moon will light our festivities. (Unless of course if you live in Saginaw, which has more cloudy, overcast days than Seattle. Fact.) The last time we had a blue moon on December 31st was way back in 1990.

That year I was 33. My oldest son was eight, my youngest just two. We were living in our new house in Wind Lake, Wisconsin, we’d only been there about eighteen months. Our lives were full with Cub Scouts and school projects. Life was pretty wild. All four boys are ADHD (really, really). Ours was a noisy, rambunctious household. Nobody walked if there was room to run, and there was always room to run. Anything with give was bounced on, including brothers sometimes.While “inside voices” were often requested they were as rare as tonight’s moon.

I’ll admit there were days that I thought I’d never survive them, the authorities would find my quivering body buried under a mountain of laundry. But mostly there was joy. Four healthy sons, four creative souls entrusted to us. Each day was an opportunity to help these precious monsters grow into the best they could be.

Nineteen years later, not only have I survived them, but they’ve survived me. They are all grown, and mostly launched. They have terrific humor, they work hard, they are good to their mates. On this Blue Moon New Years I’ll be relaxing with my best friend, probably watching old movies until it’s time to watch the ball drop, and then we’ll head off to sleep. We’ve done this new year thing a few times, after all, together for almost forty of them.

I’ll be an old woman, God willing, for the next Blue Moon New Years, nineteen years hence. When I look back at my middle aged self will I smile fondly for the choices I’ve made? Or, will I shake my head in regret for the chances not taken? It’s something to think about, on this special new year’s eve: where I have been, and where I will be. For now, I think I’ll go get started on those laugh lines around my eyes.

This entry was posted on Thursday, December 31st, 2009 at 6:41 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.