Under the Oaks: It's The People

they came true

Welcome to Under the Oaks, a quiet place to sit and read in the Land of Oaks and Roses.

I just got back from Southern California where we spent the holidays with my oldest best friend and her family. We became best friends when we were around four or five-years-old. The exact ages our daughters are now. Our girls spent the trip holding hands and calling each other “sister” while the little brothers fought over trucks and the husbands became better friends than they already were. It was one of those weeks that my brain will forever highlight when I think of 2024. Memory favors meaning.

It meant so much to be together with these families that we created. The ones that we whispered about, and imagined about, over a childhood of American Girl dolls and sleepovers. The ones that we worried about after every bad breakup. They came true. These families that we dreamed about for a lifetime. They’re real now. And we were together with them. We cried happy tears while her two-year-old asked, “mama, are you happy?” Yes, we are. We really are after all.

It was so fitting to end 2024 this way because when I look back on the year the thing that I’m most proud of, and the thing I most want to bring with me into the new year, is the quality of my closest relationships. These people that I live my life with everyday. My husband. My kids. My best friends. There’s nothing that defines my experience on earth more than these relationships. I’m so proud of what I’ve put into them and who I’ve become in the process. There’s no place, house, job, vacation, outfit (the list could go on) that matters in comparison. We all know this, I think. But living it, day-to-day is actually hard. Because everything we prioritize comes at the cost of something else. And those other things so often feel like the source of value, worth, safety, and even survival. It’s hard to detach from things you can see in exchange for something you feel. But it feels so good to look back and see that my need to haves are nice to haves now. It feels so good to see that I really have changed, and grown. It feels so good to have found home in my people. It feels so good to have found what I was looking for in my own becoming.

I’ve been thinking a lot about how much togetherness I feel in my life today. More so than I ever have before. And part of that has to do with being here, every week, with you. It’s such a special place to be. I hope you feel it too. Here’s to another trip around the sun, together.

With much love,

Olivia