This new year brought about more change than usual. In general, I’m more receptive to change than many people I know, but it was still a lot.

First Of All – Happy New Year

For the past few decades, we celebrated Second-Christmas on New Year’s eve, with our friend Charles. The standard practice in recent years was that we would go to Charles’ place in Princeton, New Jersey and exchange Christmas gifts.

Charles lived in a lovely condo overlooking the outdoor shopping area in Princeton known as Palmer Square. If you’re familiar with this area, his window looked out on the lit Christmas tree in from of The Nassau Inn. In fact, coincidentally, he lived very close to the first yarn store I ever went into. I describe this experience in one of the chapters of The Fabric We Make. I didn’t know Charles at that time, but I might very well have run into him on that visit.

A little over three years ago, Charles left his beloved Palmer Square home. He moved into a nearby assisted living home. But we continued to celebrate Second-Christmas with him in his new place.

This was the first year we didn’t get to celebrate with Charles. He died shortly after our last holiday visit with him. But we did visit Palmer Square this year. We were very fortunate to have known this extraordinary man, and I miss him. But he also gave us a lifetime of memories that I value more than almost anything.

This past year I’ve started a new tradition. Each time I think of Charles, I say “Thank you Charles.” Gratitude for all he brought into my life seems the appropriate substitute for old traditions.

Current Knitting

I was hoping to have finished this current project by January 1st. Now I’ll be glad to get there by January 8th.

It’s snowing today. So it might have been a good day to have it finished. But I’m sure it will be cold and snowy again. And hopefully I’ll be ready.