Dear Diary,
I need to shout from the rooftops the glory that was 2019.
I will forever remember it as the year we hit the jackpot. It’s the year Dean and I got engaged, the year we honeymooned (a lot), the year I let go and gained more than ever, and the year Katie and I got our mom back.
I turned 30 this year, and coincidentally, so did my mom’s baseball-sized brain tumor that was discovered and removed this past summer. Life doesn’t usually resemble Lifetime movies but when it does, you know you’ve witnessed a real life miracle. I marvel at my mom’s stunning recovery and my family’s resilience every day. It’s surreal to witness how much she’s changed and to see her fervor for life return. My sister ran the Chicago marathon in October and inspired us all so much that we ran our first 5K together in Florida on Thanksgiving (brain tumor-less mom included!) Dad had big surgeries on his shoulder and his toe this year but it’s surprising he didn’t hurt his back after carrying our team. I am in constant admiration of his strength.
2019 was a year of travel that began in Mexico with Dean’s family, then led to me snaking my way across the country for 2 months on an epic road trip for the Wilson CLASH Tour, shooting a Jaguar spot with Tennis Channel in Rhode Island at the International Tennis Hall of Fame, a couple weeks in Florida for surgery that ended with a surprise kayak with manatees, another celebration trip to Mexico, and a few other trips sprinkled in between. This decade will end with my next TC shoot in Hawaii with Dean joining me there once we wrap and then Christmas with our loved ones in Wisconsin.
After everything, I find myself more present in my life than ever (and ironically, I must say, the least present on social media than ever), closer to my family and friends than ever, and chasing my curiosities that are opening up my world in new ways all the time. A giant piece of that is because of my fiancé, who greets our shared joys and sorrows with equal support. If you’ve ever met him, you know that he’s less like my rock and more like my boulder.
After the health scares, everything is sweeter. I am unfathomably lucky.
And because social media can be a place of unrealistic highlight reels, I also want to mention that 2018 was Sucktown, USA for me full of grieving, unforeseen changes, and loss. My fabulous grandmother has taught me to accept and embrace the inevitability of the cycling ups and downs in life, and for this reason, to hang on to the happy times as tight as you can. So if you are reading this and your 2019 was the worst year ever, keep in mind the wonder and possibility that 2020 could bring and know that you are not alone.
Through it all, even on the worst days, I look back now and see that 2019 was 365 days of beauty for which I find myself positively grateful. I look forward to traveling more and getting married(!) in 2020, just to start.
Cheers to the next decade.
xx
