LAST NEW YEAR´S EVE

New Year´s Eve 2023
Dear Newsletter Reader,
It is about 3.30pm on NYE in Galicia and my darling Heather made for lunch this December 31 a lovely rolled pork roast, a Lidl creation that she says saves time and money, Parmesan potatoes and peas….Lidl for the Aussies is like Aldi, and we have next door another supermarket, Gadis (like Woollies).
I am so very well-fed by my (former chef) partner and consequently quite barrel-shaped, but I don´t worry about a swimsuit figure any more (never really did!) and the tomboy in me ignores all calls to strive for that elusive feminine body shape. I am stout. I like cheese!
I won´t continue the cheesy theme by thanking God and enumerating all that I have in my life at the end of a good year (although I did say a prayer out loud in the kitchen this morning, while Heather was actually at Mass. I decided to stay home and work instead, two Masses for me already this week!)
We saw more real, live people this year, which was really wonderful. We have an eclectic gang to be day by day friends with here, where we live, and 2023 also included some very good times with non-locals.
In May we saw the amazing Gregg and Rod, good friends from Australia, close friends of Olivia, we miss her together and separately. In September we hosted Kate and Gary, Heather´s lovely cousin and hubby from Iowa. I am thrilled to now know them both. In October we travelled to Scotland and saw Careywynn and Susan, Heather´s best friend and her partner, and then David and Jane, H´s brother and sister-in-law. I love Scotland and we will be back in April for her nephew´s wedding…
My Mum, gone now six years, said to me when I lived with her for her final few months, that “love is all that really matters.” As a clinical psychologist, she was pretty much in the business of love, saving marriages and families from heartache as much as her training, skills and natural talents would allow. I agree with you Mum. North Korea again today threatened nuclear war. My Mum would have sorted him out, untangled his heart and freshened his spirit.
The year I look back on is one of relationships and learning, of different people and their unique characters, loves, hopes and challenges. Heather and I seem to be even somehow closer in our 20th anniversary year than even a few years ago, seeing each other in different lights as life takes place. We have dropped our guard with each other in a way, it is more raw and honest between us, and we have allowed friendships to flourish in heart spaces that 30 years of office life took up.
Happy New Year 2024! May your new year be full of hope and love and peace. Meaningful work and enough to get by is all I ever really wanted—and I have that here in my virtual study. Hope that is the case for you too. Might hear from you if you are so inclined, love Sarah 😊 xx