Nine Years of Life

My blog’s nine year anniversary came and went last week without much notice from me. I belatedly thought I should make a little cake or something and announce it along with my birthday as I have done in the past. But the words have not come easily, and I wondered what I would write about. Should it be another reprise of the past year’s events and what went on in the garden? I used to write about our sons quite often in blog posts because they were young and I felt it was important for me to document their joy and wonderment so I wouldn’t forget.

Nine years have gone by since the day I officially started this blog, the same day I learned I was expecting Monkey Boy. The boys aren’t little anymore, but I listen to their laughter and love it just as much as I did those first baby giggles. They are growing older and finding their own interests. The Kids Cook Monday is a fantastic project that we still occasionally participate in, though it’s become more challenging as the boys now have events that take time away from producing those blog posts. We still cook together, minus the cameras and still photos or action shots. We still make a mess in the kitchen and (usually) clean it up together. We still sit down and eat together and discuss our day, though the conversations have changed from stories about what they did in preschool to discussions of band rehearsals, Scouts, and hockey practice.

And I have changed, but isn’t that part of life? Things come along, for better or worse, and we roll with it.

Several years ago I left the world of education to take care of our boys and deal with some of the challenges we had before us, not knowing there would be more challenges to come that we could not have predicted. And as we have rolled with the punches, I’ve pondered what would happen when the boys all got in school full time. I had always planned to return to work, but wasn’t sure what that would look like. I blogged a lot and dabbled in a photography business that ultimately wasn’t for me, but I’m glad I did it if for no other reason than it was part of my growing process. I’ve helped Michael with two novels, and we’re preparing the second one for publish soon. More learning experiences.

As we start my third year of living with cancer, I’m doing well and grateful for how far we have come. Yes, life is different, but it’s good and wondrous and I am happy. So happy that we have kept cancer at bay, that I’m watching my boys grow up, that I’m still here. And I’m happy that I am back in school working on a second graduate degree in education as I prepare to return to teaching. I was in second grade when I decided to be a teacher, and it really is who I am. In just about any situation, I approach it from an education point of view. What can I learn, what can I teach, how can I help someone else learn—those questions are always in my head.

So grad school and volunteering at a local school now take up most of my days, and writing about food and garden is my hobby once again, not my job. The circle is coming back around, and I’m comfortable with it. The mental challenges of grad school are good for me, as is spending time with teachers and students. Where life will take me next is a mystery I am exploring, but I know one thing for sure.

I’m back where I belong.

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