Mommy's Blog: Happy New Year 2022!

I am typing tonight to the sounds of a broadcast of our October Brahms Requiem concert. It is bringing on all the feels, I tell you. The euphoric experience of singing in front of an audience for the first time in 18 months, all the work and nerves and frustration and accomplishment of learning the piece by heart and trying to sing it well enough to be a part of such a high caliber group, the amazing chords and dynamics and emotion of the piece itself. And this recording is gorgeous. It all paid off.

It's even more emotional to listen tonight because our first month of COC rehearsals- and our first performance with Franz Welzer-Most- have been cancelled due to the Omicron surge. And I am missing all those nerves and work and challenge, and the new friends I had just started to make during the holiday concerts. We are set to resume February 7th, and I am hoping it will be so.

Gratefully, West Shore Chorale is rehearsing, and we are singing some lovely works, including the Schubert Mass in D, all romance and melody and energetic phrasing. As "Wie Lieblich" resonates from the radio I am just so suffused with gratitude for the blessings of choral singing and making music with other people.

One of my wishes for 2022 is to keep making music, and to keep putting my heart and work into being the best musician I can be.

I guess that is kind of a resolution?

Our Covid holiday season was really a downer of an ending to 2021, and left me in no mood to celebrate a New Year or resolve to do much of anything. With an end to our quarantine, a return to schedules, and Jack finally feeling healthy, I am swimming to the surface and finally feeling ready to reflect on the year behind, and to voice some wishes for the year ahead.

So. 2021. It was a year, that's for sure. If you look at our photo book, it was a grand one. There were sunsets and holidays and beaches and cute pets and growing children aplenty. We had a wonderful trip to Northern Michigan that was the highlight of the summer, and we had a rather pleasant autumn with plenty of socialization, a little travel, concerts, and a return to a semblance of normal life. We enjoyed the heck out of our first ski passes, and Ivy learned to ski and Jack learned to hit the jumps. Jack played tennis, the kids swam with Tigersharks, I started singing with the Orchestra Chorus. So many good things.

2021 was also full of remote learning, shutdowns, masking, making reservations in advance, and the constant low-grade trauma and anxiety of living in an ongoing global pandemic.

And it was also the year of vaccination against said pandemic! By October we finally had our whole family protected... but not before Nat and Ivy had their bout with Covid in September.

The year was marked, too, by our Gram Sarah's health crisis and the ensuing changes to her life-- and ours-- as we helped her back to health and into assisted living. Silver lining? Lots of new learning! We learned to manage diabetes and Mychart, and all about what a vascular dementia diagnosis means. We handled financial decisions and packing and moving and real estate. Happily, the close of the year finds my mom living comfortably in an assisted living apartment near us, where she is making friends and feeling much more like herself. We have purchased an investment property to help defray her living expenses and we have 2 out of 3 units rented, with the 3rd ready for AirBnB.

Oh, and during our Christmas quarantine we reglazed the tub and cleaned and organized the basement.

We did some things in 2021, didn't we?

It was kind of a doozy, last year, really.

Which leaves ume with my main wish for 2022. I am not hoping for perfect, but maybe some things can be a little bit better? Maybe this year can be good enough. Maybe our kids will get to go to school in person all year. Maybe we will stay healthy. Maybe I will get to sing in an opera with COC in May. Maybe we will get to be at Farley's for 2 full weeks. Maybe we will get to go on the California vacation we've booked for June. Maybe. Maybe not. But here's hoping that most of the time, this year will be good enough.

My personal goals, to make the most of this year, are to eat food for fuel, exercise whenever I can, and maintain my physical and emotional health so that I can hike and swim and run and play with my family and friends all year long. Also maybe to save money on random spending so that I can then spend it all on travel and shows and experiences.

My wish for 2022 is more laughter, more time with friends, more travel and adventure, and more appreciation for the amazing privilege of my life. That even in a "bad year," I had so much that was so very, very good. I want to go into 2022 ready to embrace all the joy it has to offer.

Like listening to this concert on a quiet Wednesday at home, in a clean kitchen, after a nice day at work and a run with my friend and a tasty dinner and time with kids, with a cat purring next to me and a little dog curled in her bed across the room. Definitely good enough, right? Maybe even a bit better than that. Let the rest of this year be what it may be. I resolve to revel in the breathtaking blessing of each ordinary day we get.

Happy New Year, loves!