Christmas Letter 2022
Dear friends and family –
A Christmas and New Year’s greeting to you! I hope this note finds you cozy, sipping a steaming drink by a warm fire, surrounded by those you love.
As 2022 comes to a close, I have found myself with more margin than I have had in many months — and time to watch the newest season of The Crown, of course! Since I observe Advent, a time of waiting and preparation before the feasting in celebration of Christ’s birth, it’s appropriate that I’ve been able to slow down in December.
While most of my current thoughts are preoccupied with hopes, prayers, and petitions for the coming year, as I sit down to write you a Christmas letter, I am reminded that the past year held many significant moments and lessons for me, as well as key developments in my life's narrative. I would love to share some of those with you now.
In the second episode of The Crown Season 5, Prince Philip is speaking with his goddaughter, who has recently lost a child to cancer. In a moment of honesty and comfort, he says:
“A long time ago, I lost my favorite sister, Cecile, in an airplane crash. I learned then what grief was — true grief. How it moves through the body. How it inhabits it. How it becomes part of your skin, your cells. And it makes a home there. A permanent home. But you learn to live with it. And you will be happy again, though never in the same way as before. But that’s the point — to keep finding new ways…”
Part of the beauty of that scene is Penny’s reactions to Philip as he shares his experience of loss. You see how the idea of grief inhabiting the body resonates with her. She holds back tears as he tells of its "permanent home." And she tearfully smiles at the thought of being happy again.
A year ago, I was Penny in that scene. In the months since, my grief has changed, and I find myself more on the Philip’s side of things. I’ve been happy again. Truly happy. But he’s still right. It’s not the same as before, because I will never be the same as before my father's death.
One of the surprising new places I’ve found happiness is the CrossFit gym. A friend invited me to try a class last February, and CrossFit has been a staple in my life ever since. After having never picked up a barbell in my life, I’ve been learning the incredible impact that weight training has on the body. Because CrossFit is exactly that — weight training combined with endurance, speed, agility, and cardio — I’m the healthiest and strongest I’ve ever been! My favorite PR’s from the past year are: a 210 lb. deadlift, a 145 lb. front squat, and a 105 lb. clean and jerk (that means I held 105 lbs. over my head!).
I was nervous to try something new and not be good at it in front of other people, but joining CrossFit Lynchburg was one of the best things I did for myself in the last year. I’ve seen growth in my body and physical abilities, but also growth mentally and emotionally. And honestly? The box was the perfect place to pound out my angst. Maybe 2023 is the year that you try something new! And believe me, if I can do CrossFit, so can you.
Not only did I get into CrossFit, but I also started rock climbing. Climbing is very popular in Lynchburg, but it took me over a year of living here to really get started. And that’s thanks to my boyfriend, Ben. Which is another development from the past year, and one that’s made me happier than I ever knew I could be.
We met in August at a mutual friend’s birthday party. He had just moved back to the area after living in Huntsville for a year (he had left Lynchburg in May of 2021, a month before I arrived). We went on three dates the week after the birthday party, called it exclusive and intentional the following week, and never looked back.
Ben is outgoing, confident, and easy to be around. He makes jokes, can quote movies and comedians verbatim, listens well, and asks good follow-up questions. He is affectionate and has been known to hug his friends for at least a full minute when he first sees them. He has an adventurous and spontaneous side — one of our best dates was getting ear piercings together. Ben is also self-aware and emotionally in tune, with himself and others. He has strong desires and big dreams for the future. He knows his shortcomings and the areas in which he wants to see growth. He is also just the right height for me 🙂
This is the first time in my life that I’ve been in a committed dating relationship, and every moment I spend with Ben, I remember that he is, simply and truly, a gift. A gift that I’m humbled to receive at this point in my life. And we love to remind each other how, if we’d met each other one year earlier, we would not have been ready or right for each other. God’s timing is always best.
Besides CrossFit and Ben, in the last year I also:
Celebrated 1 year at Proven Ministries, and moved into a new role as Communications and Donor Specialist
Moved into a new house. Text me for the address! Snail mail me!
Learned to play a song (one song!) by chords on the piano
Started and stagnated on an e-newsletter called Leading Ladies with Heather Cate (it will be coming back soon!)
Furnished and decorated my friends’ home for Airbnb
Joined an Anglican church
Got chased by a water moccasin in North Carolina while camping with good college friends
Worked for one month at a wine bar and learned what truly good wine is
Visited Tangier Island in the Chesapeake Bay and held a sea horse, or as I like to call it, an ocean unicorn
A passage of scripture that has been near and dear to my heart this Advent is Isaiah 61: 1-3. I pray that in the coming year the Lord gives you a beautiful headdress instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, a garment of praise instead of a faint spirit, that you may be an oak of righteousness. I would love to hear from you! Please do not hesitate to reach out via mail, email, message, or text.
xo
Heather