My One Post of 2014

I remember December 31st last year. I held a sparkler and watched its light shoot and spark and fizzle against the darkness of the ground and wondered what 2014 would be like. Now, on the other side, it feels as though I'm remembering sights along a road that was wide and open and difficult to describe.

2014 was twirling in the snow for the first time, fingers numb. It was fireworks over Sanford Stadium at graduation, a storm cloud covering the moon at Port St. Joe as a salty breeze touched my face. It was a bookstore in Oxford, MS. It was the colored lights of the Ferris wheel in Atlanta. It was driving with my best friend across the states, singing "In the Jungle" at the top of our lungs and not caring about missed notes. It was watching Arizona stars glitter on the night that the power went out at the mission and the sky became something bright and beautiful and completely enveloping. It was the Grand Canyon, it was waves lapping the beach, it was hugs from old and new friends, it was Christmas lights in quiet Wilmington neighborhoods. It was reuniting with family, seeing my baby brother's curly brown hair again for the first time in months, it was a soundtrack of memories that play over and over in my mind.

2014 was. That's the most encompassing title I can assign to it. It hurts to think the tangible moments that are so clear now will eventually fade into the warmth of a good memory. But then there is also a thankfulness that I was blessed enough to spend 365 days in this traveling year.

2014 was. Yes, it was.