Resound 11: One word
Last year’s Reverb 10 project has become Resound 11.
One Word: What is one word to describe your 2011? Why does that word sum up your year?
Love.
This could easily have been change. After all, I started the year in a new city. I started a new job. I became a ‘we.’ And then we moved in to a house.
Hectic and airport would also be accurate. The only months that didn’t find me on a plane were June — when we moved from Jason’s apartment into a house — and December. But there are 29 days left in this month. That could still change.
My 2011 went a bit like this: start new job. Two weeks later, take a ten-day trip to Oslo, Norway for orientation. Fly to New York City for my bridal shower three weeks after that. Fly to Austin for SXSW one week after that. Fly to San Francisco/San Mateo three weeks after that. Fly to New Orleans for Wedding Week in mid-May. I found out that my dad has cancer one week after that (prognosis is good!). We moved house in mid-June. I turned 35 two weeks later. I spoke at OpenWebCamp in Palo Alto ten days after that. Then my best friend visits from New York during the first week of August. We visit my parents in North Carolina two weeks later. I make a second trip to Oslo one week after that. Triathlete friend visits two weeks later for the L.A. Triathlon. I make a trip to Austin, Texas the first weekend of October for HTML5.tx. At the beginning of November, I make a trip to SF for New Game Conference. A week after that, we’re off to Jakarta, Indonesia for my cousin’s wedding and then we enjoyed a honeymoon in Bali, Indonesia.
Overwhelming was also a candidate.
But I am going to go with love. I felt loved this year. For the first time in a long time, I have friends who regularly call or email and make plans. I have a husband who is attentive and funny and wants nothing more than to see me happy and vice-versa. That’s love.
We had a destination wedding in the city that we love (New Orleans). Our families — his, mine, and our chosen family — met and fell in love. Even the Calcasieu staff loved us like family by the end of the night.
During Wedding Week, we also volunteered for a day with the St. Bernard Project. I fell in love with Sister Judy all over again. And I fell in love with a pit bull puppy named Elle. A woman drove by and thanked us for helping rebuild. Yep. Felt the love there.
One of the hardest parts of getting married was moving west. In Atlanta, I was only a 5 hour drive from my parents. I could visit once a month. With the distance and my new job, however, I can’t visit as often as I used to. But my family and my parents’ neighbors and friends have stepped in to be the emotional and physical support that they need throughout my dad’s illness. That’s love too.
At my cousin’s wedding in Indonesia, we met the bride’s family for the first time. This was HUGE because his parents are both deceased, and my father — now the family elder — couldn’t attend because of his health. So Jason and I represented our family. We dressed up in customary attire . We greeted guests. We ate goo-gobs of Indonesian food. And by the end of the trip, we were all hugs and smiles and vowing to return to see our new Indonesian cousins.
So LOVE is my word for 2011.