Christmas Joy from Clan Norris of (originally) South
Pasadena
For years,
I have heard my sweet wife telling friends, more particularly new parents, that
“The days seems long, but the years rush by”.
I just Googled that, and it is a Nancy Norris original, found nowhere
else on the Interwebs. As 2014 closes, we
find ourselves a living testament to that idea this year. We have no idea what happened to 2014. But if we will just pause for a minute, we will recall it as a year packed with so very much to be thankful
for, lots to celebrate, some losses to mourn, and countless moments, people and
friendships for which we are deeply, abidingly thankful. Your friendship tops the thankful list. With that in mind, below find “A Year in the
Life of The Norris’ “, as related to Dad via emails from all points on the
compass, and forthwith semi-faithfully retold.
LA / Chicago / Elsewhere
This has been a year of transition,
change, and a return to one last year in beloved Chicago for Kelly. For the past six months, she has returned to
the City of Broad Shoulders to serve as a nanny for, in Kelly’s words: “two very
fun boys, ages 4 and 8, and a very generous and loving pair of parents”. Nancy and I can personally vouch for this
family’s hospitality and warmth, after enjoying a late September feast outdoors
on the patio at their home. Kelly has a
heart to see the world; and was also able to visit New Orleans, have great
friends visit her in Chicago, and join her whole family for the Bruin / Husky
game in Seattle. What a fun weekend was
that! The past year also found her in Costa
Rica for a remarkable six week immersion into the Spanish language; as well as
the rain forests and tropical coastal waters.
Kelly is preparing for her eventual vocation as an elementary grade
teacher here in LA, very likely with a classroom of largely Spanish speaking
children. I tell people all the time;
given her caring heart and love for kids, Kelly is now, and will continue to be
one of my greatest heroes.
What Rain? Life in Seattle
Heather
continues to love her life at UW in Seattle!
She is so very thankful for “my awesome, encouraging, thoughtful”
Seattle community of friends. Nancy and
I have met many of these folks; they are indeed a warm, fun, thoughtful and remarkable
group. Might we all be so blessed. She was accepted (hurray!) into the
psychology program at school this past fall, and is starting to think more
seriously about an additional degree in nursing after graduation. This past summer Heather again served at YSSC
Camp near Yosemite, and was filled to the brim with hard work, the beauty of
Creation, and joy in serving kids and God.
Never one to sit still for long, at the dinner table when she was three
years old, or today; Heather is off to Ireland soon after Christmas for a
semester at University College Dublin.
Adventure awaits!
Of Faith, Service, Laughter, Joy
Nancy feels that each day is a gift. She is thankful to continue serving as the
Board Chair/Volunteer of Club 21 an agency serving families with Down Syndrome.
As a newer non-profit, Club21 is more financially
stable and is growing in many ways. More than these things, it is amazing to watch
these beautiful, courageous families and children make new friends, discover
learning resources, and find belonging and hope. This must be what pure joy looks like! Nancy has also begun mentoring young girls
through Elizabeth House, a home for pregnant, homeless women in Pasadena. And if that were not enough, during the past
year she has been key in the welcoming two recent college grads in to our home as
guests while they begin life in the Real World.
It has been loads of fun to have their energy, appetites, long
conversations that matter, laughter, and friends grace our home in this season
of their lives…and ours! She misses the Norris
girls, but since the Fall brought us together in Seattle and Chicago, her heart
is full indeed.
This Wondrous Ride - Dad
And then there is Dad. I have somehow mysteriously reached the
season in life where I must admit I am well in the depths of middle age. And this same season offers more of a long
view; a perspective on all this going and coming, these great gifts in the form
of two active and now adult daughters and the daily affection and partnership
of a remarkable wife.
How did we all get here, all of us,
to just this place? Where are those
smallish hands of little girls I used to hold in mine, those tiny giggles from
the back seat of the car, driving to some sporting event with friends. Alas, those hands are larger now, and
beautiful, and offered to lift others up, to give courage, to provide friendship
and love. Those voices have matured and
become more graceful. How has life
turned out like this? Is this just
random happenstance, or might there be some great Author writing all this,
making this story both often beautiful and sometimes frightening?
The answer to these questions is perhaps
found within the verses a of a Christmastide sonnet (found below), entitled “Descent”, and written by our new friend Malcolm
Guite, who is an Anglican priest, chaplain, poet, and singer-songwriter living
in Cambridge, England. Nancy and I met
Malcolm earlier this year at a retreat in the Texas hill country, and found him
a true renaissance man of great insight and hilarity. He also is a dead ringer for Santa! I would encourage you read this piece slowly,
ponder its meaning, and perhaps share it with those you love over the Holidays.
Christmas Peace, Joy, Laughter, and Love
to all from our home to yours!
Descent
They sought to soar into the skies
Those classic gods of high renown
For lofty pride aspires to rise
But you came down.
You dropped down from the mountains
sheer
Forsook the eagle for the dove
The other Gods demanded fear
But you gave love
Where chiseled marble seemed to
freeze
Their abstract and perfected form
Compassion brought you to your knees
Your blood was warm
They called for blood in sacrifice
Their victims on an altar bled
When no one else could pay the price
You died instead
They towered above our mortal plain,
Dismissed this restless flesh with scorn,
Aloof from birth and death and pain,
But you were born.
Born to these burdens, borne by all
Born with us all ‘astride the grave’
Weak, to be with us when we fall,
And strong to save.
- Malcolm Guite
malcolmguite.wordpress.com
