The Eberblog

If 2023 were a story, December would be its denouement—the falling action of a plot when all the conflicts are finally resolved. Of course, that’s not really how life works. Our stories don’t wrap themselves up in a shiny red bow just in time for the year’s end.

Some stories begin and end in less than twelve months. Walter began this year as a toddler in diapers. By the end of summer, he was proudly wearing his very own undies and using the potty during the day. Phoebe was baptized in January along with two of her cousins. Since then she has learned to roll over, sit up, crawl, walk, and talk. We said good-bye to our first cat, Tiberius, and later adopted Oliver—our “new cat,” as Walter calls him—from the cat cafe. My dad managed to tame the unruly flower bed in our front yard. My husband finally convinced me to let him buy a motorcycle and now we’re in a biker club.

Other stories are too big to be contained within a single year. My husband and I celebrated nine years of marriage and sixteen as a couple, reaching the milestone of having spent half our lives together. This year tested us. As individuals, as parents, as a couple. We’re moving forward now, with a deeper understanding of commitment and love for each other, knowing there’s so much more ahead of us.

As we near the end of 2023, Walter is three and Phoebe is one. Since last Christmas they’ve graduated from baby and toddler to toddler and little kid. They’ve grown and changed and learned so much, but so much more of their childhood and growing-up is still ahead of them. Next year they’ll have grown and matured even more. Eventually we won’t need the baby gate around the Christmas tree to keep ornaments and ribbon out of playful hands.

The past year wasn’t a perfectly crafted narrative. The days between January and December didn’t contain a story with a clear beginning, climax, and satisfying denouement. But it was a good year. An important year. A year full of moments and stories and beginnings and endings and challenges and loving and living.

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This post is part of a blog hop with Exhale—an online community of women pursuing creativity alongside motherhood, led by the writing team behind Coffee + Crumbs. Click here to view the next post in the series “365 Words”.