Looking Back on 2018...

Happy Holidays and Happy New Year from the Texas Nortons and Gadie...

When we look back with gratitude and awe on the adventures we had in 2018, and seek to both remember these experiences, but also turn them into stories that give our lives meaning. We hope you will join us on this journey, since so many of you were a part of these precious recollections!

It's interesting to reflect on a year in a life. It seems to require remembering personal moments, while also honoring the ways in which those moments intersect with larger historical and political events. Nowhere has that been more true than in 2018. January brought the one year anniversary of Donald Trump's inauguration, which we marked with a Women's March here in Austin.  Our Aunt Helen happened to be here for a visit, and she readily joined us for this important protest, along with numerous other family and friends. Living in Trump's America requires intentionally cultivating a progressive community of support. We are lucky to know so many people fighting for change.

In early January, we celebrated our annual Hoowee Jamboree in which a group of almost 10 families rents all of the CCC cabins at Bastrop State Park. It is a lovely weekend of music around the campfire under the stars in the piney woods of Texas.

Hoowee Jamboree

However, despite this joy, there is no getting around the fact that 2018 started out with great difficulty, on a personal level. I had just returned from a conference in Washington, DC, and was about to start the spring semester of classes, when I received a call that my dad had been admitted to the hospital for complications related to the cancer diagnosis he has been living with for over four years. In the past when my father seemed to be declining, and I would ask if I should come home, he would minimize the situation and say no; however, this time, he seemed relieved to have me coming home, which made me realize how serious things were. Thanks to dear friends, I was able to fly home quickly using frequent flier miles that they donated to me. The trip was an opportunity to help my dad and his wife, Elizabeth, transition to a new holistic doctor, set up home health care, and get through the critical hospitalization. Through it all, friends, family and co-workers pulled together to support me, and I was reminded on a daily basis to have faith...I also got a little bit of snow!

I also found an amazing yoga studio that helped me stay grounded in the midst of this crisis. The yoga teacher would read this after each class, and it was exactly what I needed to take on each new day:

"May you honor yourself today as you stand in your steady calm.
May your thoughts be hopeful.
May the words that you speak be kind.
May your actions align with your heart’s desire.
May your breath be full and abundant and your heart be filled with grace and love.
This day is blessed."

I feel like I was able to leave my dad and Elizabeth better off than when I got there, and God gave us a miracle of stabilizing his health so that my mom and I could still take her 70th birthday trip to Italy that we had planned for months. We visited our dear old friend, Rozzie, and visited Vicenza, Florence, Rome and Venice! The most amazing part of this trip was that many of you contributed financially. The generosity of so many of you in showing your love to me and my mom was the greatest gift of all. Grazi!

When we arrived home, we got a special visit from Billy's sister Deirdre, our brother-in-law George, and our three beautiful nieces! They came from NYC for a quick visit, and it warmed our hearts to be with them.

February brought our annual Oscar party, which though frivolous, has become a small celebratory ritual that creates important moments and memories of family connection. Dubs won the 2018 Oscar contest for guessing the most winning categories for the second year in a row.

In March, we headed back to Colorado and New Mexico for spring break, where we got to spend lots of time outdoors, as well as reconnect with friends and family. It is always special for us to visit places we used to live to maintain the special relationships that sustained us then, and continue to sustain us, despite the distance and time. As the poet Robert Southey said, "No distance of place nor lapse of time can lessen the friendship of those who are thoroughly persuaded of each other's worth." This is, in fact, what motivates us to travel so much! :)

At the end of March, Will and I made plans to fly back to Indiana to watch the opening games of the NCAA tournament with my dad. We had planned on a quiet weekend at home, but he ended up being hospitalized at that exact same time with necrotic pneumonia. The timing worked out for Will and I to spend 4 days at the hospital and give Elizabeth a break. We got to help keep up my dad's spirits, bring him delicious food and still watched plenty of college basketball, of course! The nurses and doctors caring for him were wonderful, and Will got to see love and service in action. He also handled himself with so much maturity. I don't know how many, then, 13-year old boys could handle four 12-hour days in the hospital with someone so sick. Though we were in the midst of another crisis, the time together was sweet, and once again, God intervened and my father recovered! Let me tell you, if you go to WebMD (don't--ever!), even without stage-4 cancer, chances of dying from necrotic pneumonia alone are high. We truly witnessed a miracle!

We also got treated to a Midwestern spring snowstorm while we were there!

The other miracle we witnessed was the fact that two of my Alma Maters (KU and Loyola) made it to the Final Four, which happened to be right down the road in San Antonio, so...

We started April with our annual Easter winery potluck, and though we overwhelmed the winery with the size of our group, it did not dampen our spring joy!

Bluebonnets! 

Hill Country Book Club

Billy's parents also came for an April visit. In light of my father's health struggles, we did not take this time for granted, and are thankful for every day we have with our parents. We know that so many of our you lost loved ones this year, and we have tried to hold this in our hearts to stay grounded in gratitude, as well as send you our love and prayers.

Thankfully, April also provides us a time to exhale every year at our annual bluegrass festival, the Old Settlers Music Festival. This was the first year at a new venue, but we still enjoyed good music, good company and spent four days laughing, singing and letting go of life's stressors. For those of you who are looking for something to do to help you downshift, think about coming down to central Texas in April and camp with us!

In May, my dad was still struggling, so I flew home one more time to be with him. I spent Mother's Day there, and got to spend time with my aunts and cousin as well. Thankfully, my dad was home, and not in the hospital, but he was having to receive blood transfusions almost once a week, and was still very weak (thanks to those of you who donate blood--you are literally saving lives!). He had been fired by his second oncologist who felt there was very little they could do for him; however, this marked a shift in his treatment because he fully shifted to naturopathic treatments and physical therapy to get stronger. He began these treatments while I was there, and they have helped him stabilize a lot.

This was my third visit to Indiana since January, and each time it was in response to dire health circumstances for my dad. Thankfully, the things that ground me in my life--my faith, yoga, time with my family, college basketball, and most of all nature--sustained me during these important visits. In particular, experiencing springtime in Indiana, with all it's colorful new life, gave me hope.

Thanks to small improvements in my dad's health, I was able to move forward with my plans to co-lead study abroad in the Dominican Republic this summer with my dear friend Minda. I was lucky enough to bring Mahalia with me, and it was a life changing trip for us both. To watch Mahalia bond with our college students, and immerse herself fully in the experience was so powerful. She engaged in service learning projects, and saw first hand the impact of colonization, racism and poverty. But she also got to meet people working to bring about positive change in the face of these hardships, and she was inspired and motivated to do the same.

When we returned from the DR, my dear friend, experiential educator and author, Michelle Cummings, came to visit Texas to speak to my book club about her novel, The Reel Sisters. But in the true spirit of experiential education, not only did we talk about women and fly fishing, but we stayed at my dear friend Leslie's cabins on Cypress Creek in Wimberley and had a fly fishing clinic. These pictures epitomize the sisterhood that is my book club. These women have been like oxygen to me this past year, always giving me a reason to laugh, a place to cry, and a community that listens and supports one another.

<3 br="">

We were home for the 4th of July, one of my favorite times in our little, family-friendly neighborhood of Plum Creek. We spent time with friends and family and participated in the annual neighborhood parade.

Wendell and I had our 2nd annual mother-daughter camping trip at Palmetto State Park, climbing trees, canoeing, swimming and, of course, eating s'mores!

We celebrated Wendell's 8th birthday with some sibling time at the trampoline park, followed by a party at our house with all of her friends!

Her new bike from Grandpa and Abuelita

Friends are the best! 

Make a wish! 

The rest of July and August brought our bi-annual cross-country road trip. I had good intentions that I would keep a blog of our trip, but this only lasted four days, from Kyle to NOLA to Alabama, after which we visited Tampa for the Lorenzo family reunion. It was so great to see so many of Billy's family after so many years. The road trip also included stops with my cousins, Andrew and Brie, in Georgia, friends and family in DC, a week at the beach on Long Beach Island celebrating Billy's mom's 70th birthday, and stops in West Virginia, Indiana and Chicago.

Fairhope, AL

National Memorial for Peace and Justice, Montgomery, AL

Lorenzo Family Reunion, Tampa, FL

Visiting Uncle Andrew and Aunt Brie in Georgia

Visiting Aunt Cathy in Front Royal, VA

Washington, DC

Long Beach Island with my sistahs!

Family time in Indiana

Cousins!

With dear old pals in Chicago!

In September, I had an Advisory Board meeting with the Student Conservation Association in Chicago, so Billy and I decided to make it a trip to celebrate our 19th wedding anniversary. We had so much fun going down memory lane, visiting the people and places that were apart of our journey from the beginning. 

In October, Will and I had our annual mother/son camping trip as part of my FACES day at the ropes course. It was so great to have Will get to participate with my foster care students, and then he and I camped out at University Camp, hiking, kayaking and enjoying a big, beautiful rainbow!

We celebrated Mahalia's 16th birthday by cheering her on at her cross-country meet and having a family dinner at Hopdoddy. To be fair, her actual present was tickets to the three-day ACL music fest (no parents allowed!).

We also celebrated Gadie's 72nd birthday in October with a home-cooked birthday dinner and cake, surrounded by good friends and family. We are so happy that Gadie decided to quit smoking several years ago, and that she continues to be in excellent health! She is such an important part of our family, and we count ourselves so lucky that our children get to grow up with their grandmother!

Next to 4th of July, Halloween is my other favorite holiday in Plum Creek because it brings out everyone in the neighborhood to spend time together! I love that the kids still dress up and enjoy being kids! And I love the traditions of carving pumpkins, roasting pumpkin seeds and baking homemade pumpkin bread!

In November, we celebrated Billy's 43rd birthday (notice the Dylan mug, full of wine or whiskey)! Don't let the gray hair fool you, he is still spry like a cat!

We also drove to Cartersville, Georgia to spend Thanksgiving with my family. It was a special time hosted by my cousins, Andrew and Brie, Wendell's godparents. We were so thrilled that my father's health improved so much that he was able to join us! God truly performs miracles.

After traveling for Thanksgiving, we were relieved to have Billy's family come here from New York and North Carolina to spend Christmas in Texas! They rented an amazing house for all of us in Austin with a pool, basketball court, fire pit, trampoline, etc. and we basically got to have a stay-cation!

Cousins at Christmastime

My year continued to be very busy professionally. I traveled to Washington, DC in January to present research at the Society for Social Work Research Conference, and most notably, ended up singing with the band The Friendly Visitors, much to the surprise of my colleagues (can I put this on my CV? #shitacademicssay). I loved being back in my old stomping grounds getting to see old friends and family.

Angel From Montgomery (I am one hit wonder!)

My people!

I had another advisory board meeting for the Student Conservation Association in February in San Francisco! I got to have dinner with my cousin Kate, and enjoy adventuring throughout one of my favorite cities.

With my cousin Kate in San Francisco

On top of my social work and adventure therapy teaching and research, I did clinical supervision,  and continued my work with FACES, of which I am very proud. Working with these amazing, resilient young people has given me renewed hope in the process of trauma recovery, and our ability to help one another heal.

I also gave trainings and conference presentations around the country. I did a trauma training for Baltimore County Outward Bound School, presented at Education Reach for Texans on my work with FACES, and shadowed and completed the Clinical First Responder training in Asheville, North Carolina. I served as a reviewer for Fulbright Taiwan in Denver, where I got to spend time with friends and family. But my biggest adventure of the year with a trip to Australia for the 8th International Adventure Therapy Conference, where I presented research and, yes, went surfing and sightseeing, and even had the honor of meeting the renowned nuclear non-proliferation activist, Dr. Helen Caldicott, who gave the celebratory keynote for the launch of this amazing book, for which I contributed a chapter. (NOTE: the key to a good work is trip is not to work too hard).

A wetsuit would've been much better--brrrr!

Sydney

The future is female! 

Billy continued teaching English at Hays High School, focusing on teaching reading to youth who are academically vulnerable, along with teaching On Ramps, a dual-credit college rhetoric course for UT. Billy is so amazing because he teaches in the same way for youth on both ends of the academic spectrum. He creates a caring classroom community in which all youth can grow and learn. On top of his professional responsiblities, Billy Norton continues to amaze me with his earnest attunement to our children. When I say that he has read every day to at least one of of our children for 16 years, I mean it. Here he is honoring Wendell's kinesthic learning style and reading to her while she climbs trees in our back yard. He even taught her how to fish--who saw that coming? Money earnin' Mt. Vernon meets Ranger Rick.

Billy also continued to coach Ultimate frisbee as a club sport at Hays, bringing together high school students of all stripes, giving them a safe space to grow, play and learn about the Spirit of the Game, a true life metaphor. Inside and outside the classroom, Billy is committed to building relationships and role-modeling getting out of your comfort zone. This was evidenced most by the fact that he ran two (not one, two!) 50-mile races in 2018, one in February and one in October! I mean, who does that? I think it's mostly an excuse to have his annual shirtless photo included in the holiday letter. ;)

Mahalia finished her sophomore year and became a junior this year. She remained active in theater and cross-country, and celebrated her sweet 16 at a cross-country meet, followed by dinner at Hopdoddy!