Posted on January 22nd, 2023

The gifts are unwrapped. Holiday decorations are coming down. We ushered in a New Year. Another chance to look forward to what is coming and to let go of what didn’t work. We have a whole new chapter to write. And saying “goodbye” to a year gone and anticipating a chance at new beginnings might be the real thrill of a New Year.

Many of our friends and family saw their holidays go out with a bang. Like a bomb cyclone that rendered around 200 million people very cold, with roads undriveable and over 10,000 flights canceled. Just getting to grandma’s house for Christmas dinner became dangerous and almost impossible.

My brother in Ohio watched his prime rib roast get cold because no one could drive in the storm to his house. Just one of millions of scenarios in a year-end storm that became Armageddon.

Not all storms are bad. They make us consider our life and life choices. I watched the Pittsburgh Steelers win against the Raiders on Christmas Eve in a blizzard. It was those crazy, cold, wild fans who gave me pause. I was born and raised in Ohio and recalled sitting in the stands watching a Cleveland Browns game on a frigid January day 30-plus years ago. That was the moment I realized how much I hate cold weather and asked, “What am I doing here?” I moved west that spring and never looked back. Yes, sometimes stormy weather is the impetus to change. To take action. Or get warm.

Have you made any New Year’s resolutions? Psychologists claim they are so casually made and readily broken that they aren’t even worth our time. Instead, we are better off making goals with clear objectives. OK, so one of my resolutions will be never to make one again.

My cousin made a shocking statement at the dinner table on Christmas Day. She announced (as her family was eating her delicious pumpkin pie) that this was “the last pie” she would ever make. Wish I had been there as family members dropped their forks and jaws in stunned silence. Then Clare said, “I have made 225 pies in my lifetime, and I am done with it. Just wanted you all to know.”

Is this a resolution? Or maybe a goal? When Clare’s husband begged her to reconsider, she smiled and said, “I will be doing other things.” Yikes! Go Clare! When we change or alter a behavior, sometimes the family won’t agree or even like it. But it takes emotional muscle to start doing life differently. Yep, we can change. One pie at a time.

My mother wrote a cookbook for the family and then revised it at age 94. She added “crowd cooking recipes” so that the nursing home staff where she was living could “learn a little something about cooking.” Well, they did. It’s never too late to make a difference.

Adios, 2022. It’s been quite a year. Thanks for the memories. Now we are ready to launch new ones. No resolutions required.