On this date...

 Days often seem ordinary while we are in the midst of living them.  It may not be until we look back that we realize their significance.  I am often fascinated to remember what happened on a given date back through my history, noticing the good times and hard times.

For example this date, December 23, will probably always be remembered for the cancer diagnosis I received in 2003.  Not what I would have wished to hear two days before Christmas, but that’s what happened.  I look back and remember the hard days and weeks that followed such difficult news, but I also remember many good things that came during that journey and I am grateful.

…

Ten years ago today was another momentous date… although we were not fully aware of the significance at the time.  Oh, we suspected that this MIGHT well be our last Christmas in the big house.  We had been deliberately downsizing for over a year by then and were taking intentional steps to loosen our grip on the beloved tree farm, but we didn’t yet know the timetable.  So we noticed and enjoyed the moments of that day… which now pop up as Facebook memories…

• I am now officially the grandma of a toddler.  Little munchkin has taken off since I last saw her.  Those tentative steps have gained confidence & direction & determination.  The best way to describe what she does is "toddle" - so stinkin' cute!
• For the first time ever, I rocked my granddaughter in the chair that my mom rocked me in when I was little!  
• Also watched those two (my granddaughter and my mom) get acquainted.
• Little Lina’s first Christmas at the tree farm - maybe first and only.  So bittersweet.
• That gorgeous Hidden Hollows fir tree in that amazing room!

Scott Schupbach photo, Used by permission

There would be other memories of this date, December 23 - mostly just normal stuff and some memorable.  Just the stuff of life.

Like a couple years later on this date when that toddler had become a big sister and was very serious about her job of redistributing candy canes on their Christmas tree.

Like the different places we lived…  the Christmas cabin for a couple years, basement apartments for a couple years, and eventually this house in a historical district…

On this date…  lots of memories… and still more dreams for the future.

Wonder what this date will hold in coming years…