TPG Blog #4 The Lessons of Tattered Kitty

Hi there!

Happy New Year and hello to 2021!

I have a guest today on my blog – my 24-year-old daughter, Arianna.  Her Instagram post on January 1^st summed up 2020 beautifully and I asked if I could share it with you.  Before I start linking and copying and pasting, I want you to let you in on a few things, explain the picture above and set the stage for our new year together.  And for that, I shift back to Halloween nights with our dear friends, the Herndons. 

On Halloween, all of the kids would wear their costumes to school all day for the costume parade and classroom parties and at dusk, our family would arrive at the Herndon’s house to trick-or-treat in their neighborhood and have a beautiful, dinner that lasted probably 3 minutes with 4 children under 8 years old!  Special treats from the next door neighbor, full-sized candy bars from another school family that lived down the street, a donut-on-a-string eating contest – I mean!!  Needless to say, that by the end of just the school day, our kids were exhausted but bound and determined to make the evening soiree.  One year, sweet Isabelle earned the title of “Tattered Kitty” as a tribute to her evening costume look.  As the years went on, both families would use it when together and apart and remember and laugh and feel the chaos and mostly the love that the night held, year after year.

In 2020, it took on a new meaning of strength and resilience as I said over and over again that our family wasn’t emerging from this year as “Tattered Kitty”.  As the year kept unfolding, I found myself needing to repeat it to myself too.  

And in the light of hope that each New Year’s Day holds, Arianna wrote this:

“As the afternoon sun finally set on 2020, we are reminded of the change this past year brought.  Change.  Both naturally and by forces beyond our control.  Internally and externally.  Change that broke us down and change that built us up.  That made us ask questions and actively seek answers.  Unpredictable, inescapable, and undeniable change. 

So, here’s to 2021.  May it treat you with kindness.  May you continue to grow.  To change.  And may you carry your new found strengths and lessons learned into the new year.

With love, Arianna”

We made it – grateful for the lessons of 2020, closer to who we are meant to be and stronger for it – and we are moving forward together, arms linked in community and understanding and love.

Thank you, Tinkerbell for your wise post, sweet Dorothy with the ruby slippers and Peter Pan.   We raise our glass to you, Tattered Kitty and to all of us in 2021! Cheers!

xoxo 

Kelly