Golden
Day 30
“Look at you, Lily”
Thirty days down.
Yes, I pulled this through. I actually made it to day 30.
And considering the kind of season this has been, I think I deserve to pause here for a second and take that in.
As much as I want to be my own cheerleader today, I choose to extend my gratitude to one person — Golden. Who knew you would happen right on time?
I’ve done six seasons of this challenge before this one, and every year has had its own flavor, its own thing that carried me through. This year, the flavor was you.
I’m grateful for how you became a silent thread running underneath this whole season, even in entries that weren’t explicitly about you. I can see your fingerprints in how I wrote. You didn’t just show up; you changed the register I was writing in, the confidence underneath the words, even when your name wasn’t mentioned.
I’m grateful for the ways you’ve shown me what a good presence actually feels like. An addition. A sweetness.
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You gave me a reason to be excited in a season where I had already given myself thirty reasons to be grateful. And I think that makes your place here completely valid.
This isn’t only the end of a writing challenge for me. It is also the end of a particular season of my life in which you became part of the colour.
Some of the softer things I wrote about were easier to admit because, well, there was a real person at the other end of those feelings.
You brought a sense of anticipation. I wasn’t only looking back at what had already happened in my life; I had something unfolding while I was writing. There was more excitement in me, more curiosity, more willingness to let myself enjoy what was happening. You gave me something to feel while I was documenting everything else I already had to be grateful for.
So closing this challenge in someone else’s name instead of my own hits different this year, and I love that it does.
This one’s for you, Golden. Thank you for giving this season a little more heart.
I’m grateful for you.
