Felicities

This volume of poems is titled Felicities in honor of Natalie Rose York, who died at 33 years old. Natalie created a blog “meme” called Friday Felicities. On Fridays, she listed things that made her happy in the previous week. It was just a few happy little blessings, most weeks. Sometimes, a bigger event made the entry. Through her battle with cancer, Nattie continued to live a life of gratitude. She praised God for the chance to eat nothing but ice cream, when her stomach could not handle more substance. She thanked Jesus for her iPod and audio books when she became too tired and sick to hold a book and read.

That was Natalie. She left a legacy of grateful living, and I have spent the last few years trying to honor that. I have found looking for the good things in life makes the bad things seem less important. Some days, it may be hard to find a reason to smile, but if Natalie could, I sure can.

When I began brainstorming a new volume of poems, I knew I wanted to dedicate the book to Nattie. From there, the theme seemed obvious. If a project will be dedicated to Nattie, it should be a project of gratitude and thanksgiving. So, I chose to include poems about the good things in life. Each piece involves observing a simple pleasure or a big one. Each poem is one of my Felicities.