Year in Review: 2025

The year 2025 brought plenty of challenges, love, adventures, new friends, and tears. Looking back, I could see I have a lot to say in this review. But in keeping with the spirit of this activity, I narrowed things down to the essence. Last year I included many photos that all felt important. In this version, I will keep to one photo of each category, except in a couple of cases where I'm including something for emphasis or better understanding.

Year in Review 2025

Something Discovered

Feather, feather, feathers seemed to be everywhere. I'd go for a walk and there would be a feather. I wanted a new painting for my living room wall.You guessed it: feathers! I kept collecting, and friends kept reminding me they were messages from Jim. 

And then came Sunday, September 14 when I walked in Six Mile Cypress Slough. I found this feather. It was completely different from any one that I had found all year. When I got home, I looked it up and found it was from a female pileated woodpecker.

Then I remembered that it would be my son Wayne's 65th birthday. And I know this special feather was his way of saying, Remember me.

A feather from Wayne

Makes Me Smile

When it comes to last summer, I think of my travels to North and South Carolina, and Columbus and Cleveland, Ohio. I visited a lot of interesting and fun places, attended a bluegrass festival, explored bookstores and botanical gardens, went on the hunt for new earrings, ate lots of good food. Yet when I think of this past summer, there is a morning that comes to my mind first: our visit to Topiary Park in Columbus.

This park is modeled after the famous 1884 pointillist painting by Georges Seurat entitled "A Sunday on La Grande Matte." (see below) I went there with John and Gail on a beautiful Thursday morning, and the volunteers were there happily tending to the plants. I was totally delighted with every inch of this place, and that morning rests in my soul and spirit. It definitely makes me smile when I think of it.

No place like Topiary Park

Feeling Proud

Throughout the late 1960s and into the 1970s, protests were erupting everywhere in America. I was a preteen when I became aware of the anti-war movement. I was a freshman in high school when Kent State happened. It became ingrained in me that this is how Americans made change. 

My chance came this year when our government took a less than desirable turn. Over this past year, I attended seven protests, including the two huge No Kings events in June and October. Very often I went alone, but sometimes was glad to be joined by friends, in particular my neighbor Kara. I suspect more of these events are coming, and I'm proud to stand strong for my country and our democracy.

With Kara-June 2025-Fort Myers

Moments Shared with Loved Ones

Every time I go to Cleveland, we have an afternoon event at Fat Head's Brewery in Middleburg Heights. This was the best gathering since we started. I am tempted to include all the pictures, but I won't. Instead, I will make note of the fact this was the first time all three of my brothers and my sister were present. That is something worth remembering.

Front: Martin, Margie, Matt
Back: John, Helen

Something New I Tried

I was in pretty weak physical shape after all the trauma of 2024 and another surgery in February. It seemed very slow going until I walked into a free Tai Chi class at my church. Nothing could have prepared me for the immediate benefits I received from this ancient art. I was surprised, delighted, and impressed with how quickly I felt my strength and stability start to return in earnest. 

Tai Chi students with Phil, our instructor

Highlight of the Year

In my visit to Cleveland there is always another tradition: Margie and I have dinner one evening with my long time friend Becky and her partner Gordy. This time her daughter Shannon joined us, which added to the frivolity of the evening. 

We met at our favorite Colombian restaurant, El Arepazo Y Pupuseria, in Fairview Park. Keep in mind this is a very small restaurant. Well, there we were together again and the laughter started...and kept going...and kept going. We kept trying to lower our voices, but it seemed ridiculously impossible. The waiters were in on our jokes, other diners were wondering what could possibly be that funny (they looked envious), and no matter how hard we tried, we just couldn't stop laughing at every stupid joke and sarcastic comment. 

Surprisingly, we never got kicked out or told to shut up. When dinner was done we wanted the night to continue, so walked next door to a place called Bonnie’s and sat outside by their fire pit on an ideal July evening. The laughter continued and rang well into the night. I could still hear it the next day. I can even hear it now!

That evening reconnected me with Shannon, a young woman I have loved since the moment she was born. And it is a testimony to long standing relationships and the energy they carry, as well as the healing power of laughter.

Me, Shannon, Becky, Gordy, Margie

Becky, Shannon, Gordy

Something Symbolic

In March, Margie & Paul came for a visit, and one of our first stops was Lighthouse Beach on Sanibel Island. I had not been to this beach in at least a decade, and was still feeling on the weaker side physically. 

The Sanibel Lighthouse was built in 1884, and its light has shown for decades. In September 2022, it took quite a hit when Hurricane Ian devastated Southwest Florida. The vegetation and caretaker houses that surrounded the lighthouse were washed away, and the structure itself lost a "leg."  It was a long time before it was fixed up again, the beach replenished, and reopened.

We visited in March and again on Christmas Eve. During both visits I felt a deep connection to the lighthouse. I have not lived as long as the Sanibel Lighthouse, but ever since I moved here, I have found meaning in its presence. That meaning has multiplied as I suffered my own devastation. When we went in March, I was just happy to be at the beach and enjoy the sun, the surf, the sky. By Christmas Eve, I was much stronger. I walked well over a mile on the beach, reflecting on how my resilience has carried me through to where I am today. It took a lot of focus, dedication, and clarity to make that happen.

Just like the Sanibel Lighthouse, I'm still standing.

Feeling Connected

It was a joy to reunite with my cousin Doreen and her husband David, and I had a fantastic time with them in Asheville. For many years, Jim and I would stop there to see them on our way home from Nashville. It was a summer tradition, which sadly ended with our 2017 trip. So returning there and seeing their new home, as well as witnessing the changes left behind by Hurricane Helene, I couldn't have been in a better place to feel connected. Doreen is my favorite cousin, and she and I always pick up where we left off, no matter how long it's been.

But there was another connection I want to note. When we were thinking of a place to go to dinner, we thought of the Stone Bowl. This is a Korean restaurant they took Jim and me to in 2013 when we visited. I knew right away I wanted to return there. I have not been able to find Korean food locally quite like the Stone Bowl serves up, so I was ready!

When we got there, I couldn't help but think of the time Jim and I were there together. The restaurant has rearranged the tables, and we sat back in a corner, so it didn't look exactly like when we were there previously. Yet, I just kept thinking of him sitting there with us, enjoying the meal and the company. 

Recently when I was going through old photos on my desktop, I found a picture from the first visit we made to the Stone Bowl, so I am including it here. Seeing this picture assures me I wasn't wrong about the connection I felt last summer. It was real.

With Doreen 2025

David, Doreen, & Jim - 2013

Meaningful Moment

On Christmas 2023, Jim and I visited Bunche Beach.

On Christmas 2024, I left some of Jim's ashes in the waterway that passes by Bunche at its western edge. I now refer to it as "Jim's Point" and I leave small shells in a hole in what is left of a tree nearby.

On Christmas 2025, before opening presents, I took Paul and Margie to Jim's Point. Best case scenario we would be alone to visit and remember, leave our shells.

Well, that was not to be. We were followed down the beach by two woman who were talking incessantly. When we got to the point, a young man was fishing there.

We left our shells and we talked to the ladies. We explained why we were there, and they took some pictures of us. The fisherman must have been listening. At one point, he turned and smiled our way.

Even with the added company, I felt it was a meaningful way to remember Jim. I was glad to share this spot with family. It was good to have the ladies there to take our picture.

And the fisherman? I have come to believe that was an angel standing in for Jim. The way he smiled at me -- well, it was comforting. 

This entire year has been about accepting things exactly as they are. This scenario wasn't the way I had "hoped" it would be, but I've come to realize it was perfect just as it was. 

And that is the best way to remember how we honored Jim on Christmas 2025.

At Jim’s Point, Bunche Beach