math that got me

mornin’ merrymakers 🥧🍠🌽🍗🍴

may i be the first to wish you a happy thanksgiving!

for most in retail, today is one of the few guaranteed days off all year. a rare pause button before the chaos of black friday & the holiday sprint that follows.

i could talk about promos or doorbusters, but i’m trusting your inbox already looks like a coupon carnival.

today’s inventory count is different.

it’s special, short, & sentimental.

i found this article in 2015 (yes, ten years ago… i’m also unwell about that) on tim urban’s “wait but why” blog.

it’s a specific version of his famous life calendar, the one showing days spent & days left with his parents (see images here). each pair of stick figures represents a day. he’s 34 & his parents are in their mid sixties.

the visual assumes when he was under 18,
he spent 90% of his days in a year with his parents.
then after 18, he spends about 10 days per year with them.
he hopes he will have 30 more years of coexistence with them.

putting together (30 years x 10 days per year) this means 300 days together.

300 days = the final 5% of their time together.

a.k.a. the “tail end.”
a.k.a. cue the ugly crying.

what really gets me is when applying the math to holidays that only happen once a year.

let’s say we get 90 thanksgivings total.
(yes life expectancy is 80, but i’m manifesting more for us.)

i’ve celebrated 34, so maybe 56 remain.

realistically i probably have another 28 with my parents alive (praying for this too)

& if i’m splitting holidays with my partner’s family…
that number drops to 14.

FOURTEEN !!!

that's two weeks, which flies in a blink all the time.

so i’m set on savoring the one i get today. and i hope you do too.

if you’re spending tomorrow with people you love, really see them. the laugh they do. the tiny rituals. the stories you’ve already heard eight times.

it’s all part of it.

even the annoying stuff. maybe especially the annoying stuff.

i’ll go first 😇

i’m wildly thankful for this community we’re building together. you read this newsie in the middle of your very busy lives & that’s not lost on me. every reply, every story you share, every “this made me think of my store” keeps merry makery alive.

you make this fun.
you make this worth it.
you make me very merry 💛

thank you, truly.

p.s. i wish i had more musical gifts to offer at family gatherings, hoping flowkey might be just what i need 🎹