Every year at this time, I do my annual purge. I am a collector of things and one of the things I collected for decades was CDs. I have 1000s. And until this year I hadn’t gotten rid of any. I didn’t even own a CD player anymore.
I started by listening to each album on iTunes and buying individual songs that I still liked, but that started getting expensive and I also had a lot of obscure and unlabeled ones, so I bought myself a cute little CD player and dove in. It was a trip down memory lane with each listen unlocking another thought of days gone by.
That too began to grow tedious and I realized that throughout the years I listened to a lot of crap. On top of that I had carted these boxes full of plastic around with me through countless moves and they had just been sitting in my attic for the better part of a decade. So I became more ruthless in my culling. I took boxes to the Valley Mission and the ones without cases and scratched beyond repair just went to the garbage. At first that felt sacrilegious, but I had to start making hard decisions and clean up the mess that had taken over my living room. I finally got them down to 2 wooden wine boxes of albums that I loved and would listen to again.
Those CDs became a metaphor for 2025. I had filled my life up with so many things for so long that I missed out on the things that really mattered to me.
2025 was an incredibly difficult year for me. I finally got a diagnosis for the health issues that had plagued me for almost 2 years. I have always been sickly, but navigating a chronic illness is a whole different ballgame. I would feel good for three weeks and then be almost completely couch- bound for the next two. This was a vast improvement from last year, but still as someone who has never let anything stop me, this has been a real adjustment.
It forced me to reevaluate how I spend my time. I shifted my energies to my family and work, which included a major renovation of a property I bought. If there was anything left over, my time went to my friends and civic organizations. But, most of the time there wasn’t much left over. I’m typically at home and couching it by 5:30.
For the first time in my life, I learned to say no. I missed meetings, dropped off of committees, and left boards. It was so far from the highly motivated, high functioning person I had been for so many years, but it was a necessary adjustment.
2025 was also a year of profound loss for me. It started with the loss of my sweet aunt Anita on the heels of the death of my uncle Bill in 2024. She instilled in me my love of vintage and turquoise and I deeply miss her wit and smile.
The grief came in waves this year. I would start to get my footing and then loss another would come crashing over me. I lost several friends from high school and my community; my dear friend of over 15 years, Lindsay Currren, my confidant and voice of reason. I bought my crazy, beautiful calf Maybelline in November and buried her on Christmas Eve.
The December loss of my beloved Paul Welder, my champion since I was 18, adopted grandfather, and the person who inspired my love of business was a near crippling blow that I didn’t imagine would come for many more years.
And, one final parting blow, I went to write this blog and my office computer, which holds all the office records, bit the dust on New Year’s Eve.
So, to say I am ready for a new year would be an understatement!
I have done all the things to welcome in 2026. I swept my house several days in advance, I did all the laundry, washed all the dishes, changed the sheets, washed my hair, cleaned my house all before the ball dropped. I have black- eyed peas and collards on the stove. The cornbread is cooling on the counter.
Ever the optimist, I am hopeful that 2026 will be a year of healing— both physically and emotionally. I am always excited for the start of a new chapter. I plan to keep on my trajectory of taking care of myself and those I love. I am excited to work on more design projects in addition to staying busy in real estate. I plan to make more of my food and continue to clear out clutter, real and proverbial.
I’m starting my new year much the way I spent last year, on the couch with a book snuggling dogs. Because no matter what life throws at me, there’s no place I’d rather be.
With a measure of humor and grace,
Eternally Optimistic MB
