The New Year

Cydney standing on my lap while I write this post

It seems like no matter how old we are, religion, balls dropping in Times Square, or our staff accountants start a new ledger the new year begins when school starts.  As a New Yorker, the new year begins anywhere between a day or three after labor day.  It is the time of new beginnings, starting fresh, and or settling back into a new routine. Or maybe I’m learning that its the same way as a kid when summer ended we all said we were going back to school fresh and going to be the popular kid or that our football team is going to win it all.

Due to me just receiving documentation that I have permanent custody of my daughter Cydney she is not in preschool or daycare just yet.  While she may not be it still is the beginning of a new year.  I think the reason at the point that I gauge this as the turning point is because of two years ago.  As I’m writing this with Cydney standing on my lap trying to reach and eat plastic bananas I think about how the last couple of falls have meant new beginnings.

In 2010, my fiance and I had just found out that she was pregnant.  We were debating upon staying in Atlanta where we had went to college and called home sing 2003 and 2004 respectively or moving to New York City where my family lives and was equidistant between her family in Buffalo and in Virginia.  We were getting excited about our new life that was on the way, what were we having, and all of the possibilities and what ifs that comes along with the first stage of expectancy.  Ultimately in September we moved up to New York and on out minds was starting anew the three of us and our two cats in tow.

In 2011 the three of us were living in Buffalo, knee deep into fighting cancer and seemingly making progress.  No matter how bad some days were we were happy.  At this time, we were planning our move from Buffalo to Virginia where she could do treatments near her parents or holistic treatments in Atlanta.  We were just as happy as we were the year before in Atlanta still planning the rest of our lives after cancer: moving back to Atlanta, what schools Cydney would attend and just looking back at this time as time that made us the strongest.

This fall, its just Cydney and I back in New York City starting over and her mother with us in spirit.  Its been a year of loss, custody cases in two different states and five days in court, and a whole lot of other things.  However after five months of being reunited we seemed to have hit our stride.  While being a self employed musician is fun I’m heading back into the corporate work force and we’ll be hitting a nice little stride settling into what will become “normal life” for a change. 

As a kid when summer ended we all said that we were going back to school fresh and going to be the popular kid or that our football team is going to win it all. I look back at the last two Septembers and this one in the same way on January 1 everyone has resolutions about eating right, going to the gym, quitting smoking, etc.   I’m learning as a parent that slowly evolves into I hope that for my daughter to look forward to the fall with my own goals and expectations and soon for her to have her own.

Happy New Year, Parents!