A Year in the Life

What a roller coaster life is, especially these past few years. I have been thinking about the life cycle of a year and wondering are there lessons to be learned? Obstacles for us to just endure? Or maybe the purpose is to go through some difficulty or victory and share it with others to light the way? If that is indeed the answer grab your torches and follow me…
This year of mine has been a doozy. From the unexpected, feelings of dread to pure happiness, the hopeful feeling of starting something new and the satisfaction of doing a job you love, health crises, loss and working in a community that gives you joy. Here is a look back at my personal unexpected, joyful/painful and in the end a happy-ish ending to 2021…
This time last year, my shop was in a building I had been renting for 11 years and I had been out of lease for the last 3 paying month to month with the constant worry of rent increase or a sudden eviction. The stress of the unknown had taken its toll. I told friends and other small business owners to keep me in mind if they heard of any buildings for rent which sounded like a good fit for me and if I couldn’t find anything maybe closing the shop was my next step. In the early Spring my building fell under new management and while the thought of being in a lease again and having some stability was great, something didn’t feel right. I thought , “Ok you’ve had a good run, 11 years is a long time to be in business… maybe my time has run its course.” I sat with the new lease on my desk for a week wondering what to do when I got a call from Claudia at Morgan Miller. She explained her landlord called to inform her Framer’s Cottage (the neighboring shop) would be closing and did she know of anyone looking to rent? I told her I was absolutely interested, my new potential landlord called minutes later and we arranged a time to view the space and I then met with my bookkeeper to see if it was financially realistic. I was looking at doubling my square footage, doubling our work space and tripling storage! A larger space would mean rent increase, hiring more employees, ordering larger amount of inventory, spending money on renovations, being closed for business during the transition and planning a grand re-opening…
My bookkeeper was hesitant, my husband was 100% on board. (His steadfast belief in me is quite remarkable). I talked it over with my friends to death— bless them. Against sound concerns I went for it! Within a few months I had gone from being completely depressed and worried about possibly closing to finding myself about to begin a wonderfully terrifying new experience.
My Man and I, along with our amazing friends worked into the wee hours night after night, with one project after another. Customers volunteered to help us move the entire shop 5 doors down, and that is exactly what happened one lovely Spring Sunday morning. It was unbelievable to see dozens of folks push, pull and carry tables, boxes, and everything else while simultaneously watching our shop, my second home quickly empty until there was nothing left but bare walls and memories. In what felt like a whirlwind of sleepless nights, endless to do lists, and working our fingers to the bone it was opening day! The grand opening in April was such a sweet day, customers hugged me and wished us well and over the next several months we happily settled into our new home.
And then in July I got a terrible call from my Mom down in Florida. My sweet Dad passed away suddenly. I rushed home to be with her, and we began the work of settling the affairs of a life well lived. My Mom flew back up with us to stay for a few months and we quickly got into a happy routine of doing puzzles, watching movies, eating tuna sandwiches and cupcakes, putting her to work in the shop, and binge watching Ted Lasso, the British Bake-Off and generally enjoying each others company and maybe realizing how limited our time is with those we love and perhaps learning how to spend our remaining time in a way that honors the time we have left.
The other unfortunate thing that happened last Summer was injuring my back. The day my Dad died something happened to my body. On the way to the airport my back began to hurt and it has continued to hurt every day since. I have been to physical therapy, I have been to Doctors, as a matter of fact I was just at a Doctors office today getting another injection praying this will be the one that will ease the pain. It is frustrating to say the least and it is not lost on me that my Dad had crippling back pain the last years of his life and I can only pray that is not my future. But as you know, we all push through don’t we, things have to be done, birthdays need to be celebrated, bills must be paid. Things could be worse. Time goes on for better or worse.
And then suddenly September was here and one day while I was prepping to celebrate our 12th year in business in our new wonderful location I started feeling unwell. I quickly left work and called the Doc to see if they thought I should get a COVID test even though I was vaccinated in March and had COVID the year before. They thought I should go in for a test and wouldn’t you know— I tested positive…again. They think it was the Delta variant. They immediately set me up to get the antibody infusion which they think retrospectively kept me from getting sicker and preventing me from getting admitted to the hospital. A few weeks later however, I developed chest pain and a strange pressure. My pulse went bananas and I began going to doctors for both my back and heart and I have to say it seems like a mean sneak peek into my old age and it is humbling. I am finally seeing a cardiologist this week and I am stoked… words I thought I would never say in my 40’s.
So now as I look forward to this new year I go into it humbled by how quickly life can change. In a blink of an eye, everything you know for certain can disappear for better or worse like your health or getting to start over with a new chapter of a career, the loss of loved one… The lesson for me this year is to hold those you love just a little closer, enjoy the little things you take for granted and don’t be afraid to take a risk. Life is a roller coaster, but hopefully you have a few people in your life along for the ride and if you’re lucky they are right here Under the Pines…