I was cleaning out some stuff, and found a science ‘paper’ my grandson and I wrote several years ago when he was probably in second grade. We’d picked a ripe seed pod from my yucca plant and were dissecting it.
He said something that he’d learned at school. “We should write ‘What We Know So Far.’”
We started with where we got it—from the yucca cactus. And then we set out to write what we learned by cutting it open.
That got me thinking as this old year ends in a few hours that as well as setting goals for the new year, I should reflect on “What I’ve Learned So Far” from the year 2025. Did I learn any useful knowledge I could pass on to others?
Yes, I did.
I learned it takes at least a year to close an estate when someone (in my case, one of my brothers) doesn’t leave a will. So the knowledge I’ll pass on if you choose to listen to me is: Don’t put off making a will. You do it for others. It’s not morbid to decide what to do with your assets. You can always alter your will if your circumstances change. In Missouri, you can handwrite a will and have two witnesses watch you sign it in the presence of a notary. Most banks and here our wonderful Joplin Public Library have notaries. It’s just not that hard.
In that vein, I also learned I don’t have to clean out those files I’ve accumulated of lawyer papers, copies of the death certificate, and receipts of bills paid to settle the estate. I put them in one place, and when it doesn’t hurt so much, I’ll condense them. There’s no urgency there. That estate is closed.
I learned several new words this year. Kairos (pronounced with a long i: Ki rohs) is an ancient Greek word. Originally it meant something like “the right time.” In looking back at my life, I think many events occurred at exactly the right time, the precise moment when everything clicked. For instance, I met Jimmie when I was 16, a junior in high school. Instant rapport. My senior year, he was already a big college man. I knew him for 11 years before we married and during that time I went out with him when we were both in our hometown. I still have all his letters. We went to colleges in different states and dated others; I went to grad school; He went to Vietnam; I worked and became an independent woman, capable of taking care of myself; he worked and became his own man and let his hair grow because “No one is ever going to make me get a haircut again.” (Of course, he cut it eventually, but it was in a ponytail at our wedding.) Deciding to marry was our kairos moment. It was exactly the right time.
I learned that the best show on earth is from nature. We’ve had startling sunrises and sunsets here in the Four States. 360-degrees of peachy-pink sky. I want to take that learning into the new year with me. I want to greet the morning sun and see it bid the day farewell.
Your turn. What have you learned from 2025?
