Another year surrenders

Well, once again we are at the year's close. This one has been full.

Hard to believe Julie's kids are so grown. (And, hard to believe my little Julie is about to turn 42!) Katie will be 17 next month and has her driver's license. She is kind of the benchmark of just how old I really am! I remember when she was just a baby and Julie gave her some tuna salad (she learned HER lesson) and Katie cried most of the night with a tummy ache. She is a gorgeous girl and quite the scholar. Now (gasp) Julie and TJ are looking at colleges. It's just not nice that they grow up so fast. Matt, who is 15 now, is tall and lanky and way too grown up. He's into drama and guitar and all of those other teenage things. He is quite the artist, too. I call Alyssa my little train wreck. She, in turn, calls me Poop Deck. Conversations are interesting, to say the least! She is 11 now and fast approaching the teen years. She has enough kid left in her, though, to make things ok. For example, her fondest Christmas gift wish is a Whoopie cushion (OR a flashlight, she says).

On the other end of the grandkid scale, Heather's kids are still pretty little. Heather, however, will turn 40 in 2010. Whew! Mike, 4, and Chris, 5, are still playing the "Pretend you are Granny and I am calling you" game, which, of course, thrills me no end. They are the most fun in the world. They aren't babies any more, though, which is kind of sad for me. Soon, they will join the others in the grown-up world.

Em's kids are in the middle. Adison is 11. He loves coming to Granny's house in the mountains and tells me, "I am not a city boy; I am a MOUNTAIN boy!" I say, Hurrah! He loves to camp with us and is just a great little visitor. I will hate it when that goes away. Maybe it won't! Haven, almost 14, is more aloof. She is a typical teenage girl who loves her bling. She is for sure a city girl, but lovely anyway. We wish she would visit more. Emily herself will be 38 next year. She is the only daughter who remains in her 30's, but not for too long!

I feel tired at the end of this year. Though the years do fly by ever faster, just like my Grandma Patterson told me they would, the speed at which they pass is somewhat exhausting. It seems like there is no time at all between New Year's Day and the next New Year's Eve. More time to savor the seasons would truly be appreciated. And, with the family history of short life spans, I always wonder if this year will be the last. I am so many years older than my mother ever lived to be and this year even older than HER mother lived, and I think I am still pretty young, all things being considered. But, I am creeping up on being older than either of my grandfathers and before too long at all I might even get to be older than my father did, all while still in my 60's. What a strange idea.

I want to live as long as Grandma Patterson, my longest living relative, at least so far. She was almost 92 when she died. What a world of change she would have experienced. She lived life to the fullest and tried always to look on the bright side. (Still working on that one . . .)