So, I’ve been on extended holiday break, but here I am- all rested and refreshed. I’ll hit some of the highlights of the last couple of weeks and their coordinating life reminders that I can take with me into this new year. 

Probably the first thing that happened after I last blogged was my trip to the ER with my mother who had a cut from some Coke cans that fell on her head from an upper shelf at the grocery store. My sweet friend, Debra, happened to be there when it happened and stayed with her until we could get to her. It wasn’t serious- she just had a big knot and needed a couple of staples, but the real story was in the waiting room, where we spent 6 hours before getting the said staples. I’m sure I’ve mentioned this before, but my mother is nothing if not fiercely protective of her people, so for 6 hours our conversation went something like this. 

Mama: “Joni, go home. You’re going to get sick for Christmas. I’m just fine to be here by myself.” 

Joni: “Mama, I’m not leaving you here, so you can just forget that. 

Mama: Big sigh followed by frustrated silence.

3-4 minutes of small talk and waiting room observations. 

Mama: “Joni, I’m serious. Go home. You’re going to get sick for Christmas sitting up here. I’m 79 years old and capable of being here by myself.” 

Joni: “Mama, like I said, I’m not leaving you here alone, so let’s just talk about something else.” 

Mama: Big sigh. 

Silence. 

5-6 minutes of small talk. 

I take another trip to the information desk to see if, in fact, they do have information on how much longer it might be. 

Mama: “Joni, now listen to me. Look, that lady over there looks like she is so sick- coughing and holding her head. It will ruin Christmas for your family if you catch something up here. Please, go home and I’ll call you when I’m done.” Big, frustrated sigh.

Joni: “I’m not leaving you and it doesn’t look like either one of us will be home by Christmas at this rate, so it won’t really matter.” 

Repeat verses 2 and 3 and then the chorus. 

I start googling things like “What is the window of time for stitches after an injury?” And “Can you really close a wound with super glue?” 

At last, the heavens open up and we hear her name called. 

Life reminder to myself: Your mama doesn’t ever quit being your mama until she goes to meet Jesus. It’s a love that doesn’t ever soften or show cracks or wear thin over time. Enjoy the years that you have of being someone’s baby- even if if seems as if some of them are spent in a waiting room. There’s a finite time that we are given to be daughters. Be a good one. 

Christmas was kind of different. We had a small family gathering on Christmas Eve night at my aunt and uncle’s house. Our celebration with Davis’ family, earlier in the day, was cancelled due to cases of Covid. It was Blair and John Samuel’s year to be at his parents’ house on Christmas morning, so Davis and I sat and watched Carson open a few of his presents and then we went to Waffle House. Yeah, you heard me. If you’ve ever wondered who would go to Waffle House on Christmas, well, now you know. We were all set to have our usual Christmas night feast, so I didn’t want to cook a big breakfast for just the three of us. We started that new tradition of going to Waffle House on the years that the married couple is celebrating Christmas morning elsewhere. You wouldn’t believe the exuberant Christmas cheer the workers and other patrons had that morning. It was fun. 

We have our children and my mother over to enjoy a big meal and open gifts on Christmas night. I did a tenderloin and John Samuel boiled shrimp. That time has become one of my very favorite parts of Christmas. 

Everyone seemed to love their gifts. 

Just like Christmas, the next day was hot as blue blazes. Seriously, it was 79 degrees. In recent years, my family has been getting together the day after Christmas and we usually do soups and light finger foods since everyone feels like a big gray tick at that point in the holiday season. A couple of hours before everyone got here, after having bumped the air down for the second time, I decided we were moving the party outside into the spring-like weather and so we set up tables for a family Christmas picnic. We did that last Thanksgiving because of Covid, but this was purely a weather decision. Yes, there were some shorts and flip flops present. And on top of all the food everyone brought, I had all the food that I’d bought for our cancelled meal with Davis’ family, so we had an eclectic mix and enough to feed the neighborhood. None of us could remember a warmer Christmas week and, while it didn’t give us all the usual Christmas feels, it was pretty neat in its own way. After we ate, we put our chairs in a circle and opened gifts outside. My family is pretty much an outside people, so we enjoyed being together in the most unusual and un-Christmasy way. 

My little brother and I were gifted quilts made from our daddy’s old shirts by my sister in law, Teresa. With the completion of ours, she has now made one for all of his children and grandchildren and, of course, his wife. What a labor of patience, time, and love. 

Life reminder to myself: Christmas changes through the years. Every year, it becomes harder to gather everyone at the same time and place as in times past. Some years, it may not even “feel like Christmas” because of the adaptations. Life is constantly changing, so stay ready and willing to adjust and make new traditions, while remembering the quilt of memories from Christmases and lives past. 

Two days after Christmas, we left with our kids and Ruby and our granddog to enjoy the mountains for a few days. It was warm and rainy, but we didn’t let it stop us from getting out and enjoying the scenery. We tried to do two hikes a day. I’m the dead weight- the one whose stamina they have to consider when choosing the trails. Any one marked as family friendly, I’m generally up for as this distinction would indicate that small children, women with babies in slings, and elderly grandparents could complete the course. I stayed back one afternoon so they could all enjoy a legit hike. One day, we walked a short .6 mi from the parking lot to the highest point in GA- albeit a straight up vertical .6 mile. There was one point, I wondered if it was, indeed, my last day. I so didn’t want the last words I heard on this earth to be, “You comin’?” The fog was so thick that we couldn’t see a thing when we got up there. We could’ve taken our group picture back in the parking lot and no one would have known the difference. Supposedly, you can see Atlanta, North and South Carolina, and Tennessee from there. I’m sure it was all out there somewhere. 

One day, we went to Long Creek Falls in the Chattahoochee National Forest, which is on the Appalachian Trail. We’d been to the area before and it’s really beautiful. Well, we hiked to the falls about a mile from the car and we snapped a few pictures and explored the area and then hiked back to the trail. The rest of my party turns left back onto the trail heading away from the car.

Anyway, back to my story. I thought the objective of our hike was to go to the falls, look around, and then go back to find other natural attractions, but they say,“We want to hike on the Appalachian Trail for a while.” When I hike, I’m the type of person who wants there to be a grand finale- the trail ending at a waterfall or with a glorious view to behold. I’m not really into walking uphill for miles to just turn around at a random spot and go back the way I came. I don’t really see the point in it. But, I’m a team player, so I take my place at the back of the line and follow. 

We met a man who was just a few miles from finishing his trek down the entire Appalachian Trail. He’d been at it since July 6 and had lost 80 lbs. As a side note, he smelled like someone who’d been hiking since July, but he was just a few miles from the end when we passed him on December 30. Whatever it is that those kind of people have, I was clearly absent the day God passed it out. 

Anyway, I follow behind my group. And then further behind. I mean, I can walk all day long on level ground, but that uphill stuff is for mountain goats of which I am not. Finally, when my left lung collapsed, I called ahead that I was turning around and would see them at the car when they came out. Davis wouldn’t let me go back alone. He didn’t want his cook to be abducted or ripped apart by wild animals, so he walked back with me. I sat in the car in the drizzling rain, while he explored the area nearby. I dozed off for a while. I waited and waited. I wasn’t worried though. I had a gun, the car keys, a bag of sausage balls, a cooler of water, and some leftover Christmas candy. I was perfectly content. Almost three hours later, they came back out having turned around at some random spot on the trail and Davis wandered up from another direction. Life reminder to myself: Life isn’t just about searching for the wow moments and momentous pinnacles. Most of life is made up of just going along routinely with nothing particularly unordinary to see. Appreciate the quiet beauty in the everyday journey and in the people traveling along with you. 

Since we got back in town, I’ve spent the last few days picking out colors and finishes and materials for our renovation that starts “at the end of the month.” Of course, that could be contractor talk for “you’ll see me when you see me” or maybe he was careful not to name the particular month at the end of which we’ll see him. Either way, I’ve been looking at paint samples with names like Temporal Spirit and Dove Wing and Balboa Mist. I don’t know who’s in charge of paint naming, but I’d love to get in on that. Kitchen fixtures, pull handles, the varying heights available in toilets. If one weren’t a decisive person, I could see how one could get bogged down in the ridiculous amounts of choices and details. Fortunately, indecisiveness isn’t something I usually struggle with- I either like it or I don’t. I have asked a trusted friend to validate a couple of choices, but I’m typically a quick decider. I mean- it’s a bathroom faucet- not a life changer. Life reminder to myself: While you’re spending time putting a fresh face on your earthly home, see it for what it is. Like the paint name- it’s just temporal. This home ain’t where it’s at. 

It’s a new year. It’s a new start. A clean page. A fresh supply of potential. What will we do with it? I’m excited to get started. 

Glad to be back with you, friends.

JONI