The morning light is slanted as
it streams across the neighborhood. As the solstice recedes slowly in the
mirror and another trip around the sun begins I’m mindful of the prologue to
John’s gospel: the people who have walked in darkness have seen a great light.
As St. Francis knew, not even the deepest darkness can stand up to the light of
one candle. So as the calendar turns to a new year, I’m sorting through the
shadows for signs of the light that still shines out there.
The year began with our
household still grieving both the national political situation and deeply
personal loss. But, as the lyric from Hamilton puts it, the sun comes up
and the world still spins. We been holding on and holding out, and the year
just past turned out to be, for us, a memorable one full of simple joy. While
the past 12 months have been a strange and trying time for our country, it’s
been a year of milestones for our family. Youngest graduated from high school,
middle graduated from college, and eldest got married. For a quiet and pretty
introverted family, that’s a lot of parties!
I suppose it’s also fair to say
that, for a quiet and introverted family, we host a lot of parties. We pretty
much refer to any time that the house is full as a party, and we filled it
often last year. We got the year off to a rip-roaring start last January with a
“nasty woman party” when we hosted a house-full of women for the Women’s March
on Washington. By the lengthening light of that January day we caught a glimmer
of hope that the people of the nation could still grasp hold of its founding
principles despite its present leadership.
The march was also a fine way to
begin Hannah’s last semester of high school. The company of strong, smart women
is always inspirational to strong, smart young women. Hannah is one of those,
and she pretty much roared through the end of high school, finishing at the top
of her class. That accomplishment came with the mildly terrifying opportunity
to speak at graduation in June, and she pulled that off with poise and good
humor. She spent the summer on the staff at Camp Hanover, and then headed off
to Charlottesville for her first year at UVA. We’re not sure how our youngest
child became all grown up (though I suppose it has something to do with the sun
coming up and the world still spinning).
To ensure that we will never
have two kids in college at the same time, Martin graduated from Virginia
Commonwealth University in Richmond in May. As seems fitting for a kid who made
a movie about traditional music in Appalachia a few years ago, he is fascinated
with history. He’s now trying to figure out how to make a living out of that
interest, and is part of the gig economy cobbling together work opportunities
enough to pay the rent in Richmond. He spent the summer after graduation
working on a film project with David, but when the grant money funding that ran
out in September the job and the project came to an end. (You can watch the trailer on our Youtube station.) He spent the fall
running machinery in a box factory, but the graveyard shift hours with near
daily – or, more accurately – nightly unplanned overtime were unsustainable. Putting
together a bit of this and that while looking for more is keeping him busy.
Meanwhile, he and his long-time girlfriend, Delanie, are enjoying life in
Richmond with their housemate, Maya, and their three cats. Their apartment,
near the VCU campus, is filled with art and music and the vibrant energy of
smart, creative, and funny 20-somethings busy building lives.
The same is true for Dylan, who
returned to the east coast this summer, got a job, got an apartment, and got married to Monica all in the span of about ten weeks. It was a bit of a whirlwind! He is at the dissertation stage of his doctoral work and has completed the residency and class requirements at UC Santa Cruz. We are thrilled to have him back on the same side of the continent (though we will definitely
miss spring time trips to Santa Cruz). He and Monica have a sweet little apartment
in Falls Church, which is about 10 minutes from our house and about 45 minutes
from Monica’s work and her parents’ home near Dulles airport. Dylan is working
at a tech firm in Rosslyn (an Arlington neighborhood directly across the
Potomac from the government center in DC. He doesn’t love the work, but it pays
the bills and, he hopes, leaves enough mental energy to work on the
dissertation.
The kids each experienced a
major life event during the year, and I reckon that means the parents
experienced three major life events! It felt a bit more stable than that,
though, as Cheryl continues her fascinating, engaging, and challenging work at
the Library of Congress, and David continues his at the wee kirk.
We filled the house with lots if
fascinating folks and delicious food throughout the year. We had houseguest for several months and discovered a daughter-by-another-mother we never knew we had! Gaytri brightened the place with her smile, laughter, and wonderful curiosity about life in our "typical American family." Someday we hope to take her up on the standing invitation to visit her in India.
We also hosted small
groups of Muslim peacemakers, Presbyterian rabble-rousers, and travelling
musicians at various points of 2017. Last fall, we were lucky enough to host
the three troubadours who play together as Abraham Jam, and, a month or so
later, to host our dear friend, Noah Budin and his wife, Sharon, for a show
Noah did at church. It’s great to have the keys to an acoustically amazing and
visually striking performance space!
It’s even greater to get to make
music and lead worship in such a space almost every week. Stop by if you’re in
metro DC this year. We’ll keep the light on for you. Really, though, keeping
the light shining is what we try to do with our lives day by day. By the light
that we share, we can beat back the darkness.
Peace, from the Randolph!
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| Brothers on the disc-golf course in Santa Cruz. |
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| Somewhere along a winding mountain road in the mountains above Santa Cruz. |
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| Cheryl teaching Gaytri the fine art of making pizza. |
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| Sometimes you just have to stop and have your breath taken away. |
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| The best man before the wedding. |
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| Sister of the groom and bridesmaid. |
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| because they said so. |
