Hail, Sun, Rain: Last Hike of 2018

Last hike of 2018 @ Middle Fork, WA

Some look back as we ring in each new year; others look forward. I’m not one for setting resolutions, but I do enjoy paging through the tattered desk calendar of the prior year reminiscing about the months gone by and imagining those to come.

So what did 2018 look like? On the personal side, there was a weekend of skiing and snowshoeing with friends on Mt. Baker followed by a week in the California sun with two of my four sisters – a perfect combination of winter activities.

Spring was a time of weddings and summer of my younger sister's recovery from hip replacement surgery. In September I helped paint our daughter and son-in-law's new home, celebrated landmark birthdays and enjoyed our bi-annual family barbecue.

October brought cycling Portland, Oregon with my husband and our traditional Thanksgiving feast. Autumn ended with our daughter's completion of her Masters in Social Work.Yay!

On the professional side, my first book, The Thirty-Ninth Victim, was re-released in April, a decade after its original publication. Don't you love Loretta Matson's new cover?

In June I spent a week at a friend’s guest house on San Juan Island determined to finish a third draft of my upcoming memoir. On the last day, I emailed it to each of the women whose stories overlapped with mine during my years in Mexico City as an undocumented worker in the 1980s. The Ex-Mexican Wives Club will be released late 2019.

My second memoir, Mom’s Last Move, a sandwich-generation story, was released in November. The first reading was absolutely wonderful!

And so the year comes to a close. As I page through my new 2019 desk calendar, I already see another reading, a book club event, and a library workshop. My writing will focus on the final rewrite of The Ex-Mexican Wives Club while I finish my thirty-second year at South Seattle College working with immigrants and refugees. And, of course, I’ll squeeze in as much hiking and biking as possible.

What are your 2018 highlights and plans for 2019?