Putting the Lid on 2011

I once read an article about life stressors which assigned points for the types of events that occur in your life. So many points for birth, death, wedding, job change or loss, a move, etc. and, of course, the more points you had, the more likely you were to be maxed out with stress. Thirty years ago I managed to accumulate enough points to, theoretically, give me a heart attack. In 1981 I went through a divorce and a new marriage (complete with two stepdaughters), lost two grandparents, moved three times, ended one job and began another in a brand new city, and bought a new house. My health didn’t suffer, so I guess it’s true what one of my stepdaughters tells me, that “that which doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.”

This past year, 2011, was a bookend: I gave up two pets, sold the home I’d lived in the longest ever, went through a major downsize of possessions, moved to a new city and said goodbye to friends I’ve had the longest ever. Thank goodness there were no deaths in the immediate family, although a great-aunt died on Christmas. Thank goodness I’m not looking for a new job too! And, most of all, thank goodness Bill and I were able to celebrate 30 years together and start this adventure in good health!

While visiting my family in Chicago over Christmas my mother dug up the address of the house we lived in here in Jacksonville in 1958-59. Coincidentally, it’s only a couple of miles from our marina, but 50+ years has changed the area dramatically. Back then it was “out in the country”, now it’s part of the city of Jacksonville. We were here because my father’s first congregation after finishing his studies at the seminary was here, an all black church that is still functioning today. We only stayed 18 months because the Klanners didn’t appreciate a white man ministering to black people. It only took a couple of bomb threats before the elders of the congregation regretfully asked us to leave. The family headed south to Miami Beach, to a new start-up church primarily serving nearby military bases. Then in 1962 Fidel Castro decided to posture a bit and my elementary school incorporated missile defense activities into the curriculum. I was never sure how crouching under the desk in my first grade classroom would protect me from a bomb.

Tonight Bill and I observe a tradition we started over 20 years ago when he was a pilot for USAirways: celebrating Christmas together on New Year’s Eve. For many years Bill pulled trips on Christmas, then we spent the holidays first in Phoenix with his mother and then with my family in Chicago, so it was just a postponement of our own gift giving.

So as we unwrap packages tonight and ring in the new year, we’ll package up the memories of 2011 and put a lid on it! May 2012 be bright and beautiful for you, and may you know the love and saving grace of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ!