She Thinks

In order to answer this question I found myself walking around my house looking at all of the “stuff” I own and asking myself if I thought one thing or another  was the most important.

I knocked lots of things off the list right away.  Electronics, clothes, shoes (come on…I like ‘em but I’m not that shallow!), furniture, bake ware….ya know, all the stuff that sits in and on cabinets and closets throughout the house.

And then I thought about my artwork.

The oil painting hanging over the couch in my office was my first piece of art worth more than $100 and I do love it.  It’s a beautifully done oil painting of flowers in an exquisite frame.  It is the most beautiful painting I own.   But truthfully, it’s not even close to being the most important thing I own.

In addition to the painting, I now have 3 amazingly beautiful sculptures that Brian has given me since we separated (I know…don’t even get me started) that I certainly would make a point to grab and put in my car if I was told that I had 15 minutes to gather my possessions before my house were to blow up.  But again…when it comes down to it, they aren’t the most important items I own.

So then I thought of all of the sentimental stuff I have.

Obviously, the first thing I thought of was our family photos.  After Brian and I split up, I was the one who declared that I would be the keeper of the family photo albums (of which there are probably 20-25) and I have them neatly stacked on top of each other on storage shelves in the basement.  Not that I don’t love to look through them, and cherish all of the pictures/history/memories in them…but the reality is that they “live” in the basement.  So in all honesty, how can I proclaim them the most important items, when they gather dust in the bowels of my house 99.9% of the time?

Jewelry?  I do now have some amazingly beautiful and sentimental pieces, and I would be absolutely heart sick if I ever lost them…(like a necklace that was my mom’s and another from Ally, a watch from my grandmother, earrings from Brian and a bracelet from Matthew) but I just can’t elevate any one of them to the status of “most” important thing that I own.

So how about books?  There are a few (not many as I’m not a voracious reader like the other members of my family) that have shaped my life.  They influenced the way I look at the world.  They occupied hours of my life by taking me to places and times I’ll never visit.  They broadened my mind.  But they certainly are not the most important things in my life.

So what the hell could it be?

It’s my dogs.

We could get into a philosophical argument as to whether or not our pets are our property or chattel?  But the reality is…that they (there are 4 of them now) are the most important “things” in my life.

I don’t treat them like things.  I treat them like pets.  That I love.  And cherish.  And care for.

And when it all comes down to it…if my house were on fire, the ONLY thing I would run in to rescue without thinking about it twice…would be my dogs.  The rest…while important to one degree or another…are just not the most important things in my life.

Without a doubt, the one word that best describes 2010 for me is “REMARKABLE.”

I began the year on an amazing adventure with Matthew to SE Asia where we were able to see and experience some of the most remarkable places, people and animals of my life.  I mean, how many times do you get the chance to be up close and personal with an elephant, sit with a tiger, get blessed by a Buddhist monk, drive through heavy traffic in a Tuk Tuk, walk through centuries old ruins, eat amazing (and sometimes odd) food, or meet wonderful people from around the world who you now consider to be friends?

Absolutely remarkable.

THEN…I got to work on putting together a bid packet with my incredible architect (and lovely friend) Jeff for the property in Ridgway, in order to facilitate the process of finding and choosing a contractor for the project.   Just going through the process of figuring out (to the best of our ability at the time) what we wanted the place to look like, and then trying to determine who would be the right fit to get it all done… was amazing.

And I couldn’t be happier with my choice.  By the end of June, we found our guys (thank you Eric and Joel for agreeing to do this job!) and the dream of building a house, where I get to choose everything  (OMG…you should see the sinks!) started to become a reality.

So as you can imagine…between watching the building take place, being able to start the process of buying everything from faucets to doors, and watching it all come together in one of the most beautiful places on earth…has been truly remarkable.

THEN…there was the whole Kidney A-Go-Go experience.  That alone would have made the year remarkable on its own.  But more than that, it was probably one of the most remarkable experiences of my life!

I mean really…who would have thought that 1) Brian would have needed a kidney and 2) that he would allow me to go through the match process resulting in 3) our being a MATCH, thus allowing 4) for us to partner in a kidney transplant, which was  5) a SUCCESS, because 6) both of us are doing great!

Seriously…if that’s not remarkable, I don’t know what is.

And finally, (I can’t believe there’s more) Matthew and I just got back from Peru where we got to see Machu Picchu (talk about a remarkable place!), salsa danced in Cusco (where we almost died from lack of oxygen), and cruised up the coast of South America and Mexico for 15 days (dancing, eating and drinking ourselves silly)!

On top of all of that, my kids are doing great, everyone’s healthy, the economy’s starting to come back (yeah yeah…probably not fast enough, but hey…we all know it’s getting better!) and I couldn’t be happier.

So, as I look back over this last year, I don’t think I’m exaggerating when I say it has been remarkable.

But honestly, if I had several words to describe it, they’d actually be…

“I must be the luckiest goddamn woman in the world!”