“Should old acquaintance be forgot / and never brought to mind? / Should old acquaintance be forgot / and days auld lang syne?” What does this mean? I'm thinking that the question is... Should you forget old friends and days gone by?
I don't think so.
Today, I am affording myself time to reflect on the past year and document the days that have gone by and the friends with whom those days have been spent. In the past, I have been known to write one of those "Year in Review" letters and post them with my Christmas Cards, but this year, I failed to send any Christmas cards - so there you go.
In 2009, I’ve had my fair share of ‘ups and downs’ (mostly ups) and although January begins with a real downer…bear with me – the year gets better.
January:Our brother, Terry died. He was the eldest in our family of four kids and chose to end his lengthy battle with kidney disease and diabetes by not continuing with dialysis. A brave decision supported by his doctors, nurses, family and friends. We were with him until he took his last breath.
YouTube: Remembering Terry ...
The following letter was written to my brother, sister and I from Amelia, our 6 year old cousin on the morning after Terry passed away. Her parents, Kirk and Karen were Terry's support system as he lived so far away from us and I will forever be grateful to them for their love and compassion towards him and for embracing us as we arrived to be with him during his last few days on earth.
It has been my experience that during the worst of times, I am struck by the consistency of friends and family who are always there through thick and thin. Thank you Doug, Kathy, Bob, Eugene, Mo, Karen, Kirk, Madonna, Carrie, Jackie, Gate, my brother Vic and sister Bobbie. I am so incredibly fortunate to have you all in my life.
February:I worked. A lot. Knowing that work-a-hol-ism is my way of (not) coping. My sweet husband (and shrink), Doug knew that it was time to plan a trip.
March:Kicking and screaming, we drove to Port Aransas, Texas. A way, laid-back beach community located on the Gulf of Texas. Flip flops, no make up, shorts and sweats were the order of the day. We would park ourselves under beach umbrellas until dusk where I would cry from time to time, reflecting on the loss of my big brother and talk about ‘feelings’ with my best friend. It was a healthy thing to do and I thank my husband for his insight.
April:Several years ago, I produced a video. It’s called
“Infant Emergencies and CPR…When You Least Expect It”. It still sells on amazon.com but I’m not quite sure why - as it is only available in VHS. Anyway, during the production, I was given the opportunity to do a “voiceover” in a sound studio. I was hooked. In April, I started taking voice-over classes and I have really enjoyed it. I’m thinking I should audition for a volunteer agency that creates audiobooks for the blind.
May:
Check out Doug's YouTube video of our trip...
Paris and London 2009. The first week, Doug and I toured Paris alone, then we met up with his sister, brother-in-law and brother in London. We had a blast.
June:I pursued my dream to become a writer. I became a blogger. So far I've had just over 2000 hits and despite the fact that most of my fan-base has been unabashedly solicited, I have 27 fans and 9 followers! Woo Hoo!
Erma Bombeck once said ... "There are people who put their dreams in a little box and say, 'Yes, I've got dreams, of course I've got dreams.' Then they put the box away and bring it out once in awhile to look in it, and yep, they're still there. These are great dreams, but they never even get out of the box."
Through my blog, one of my dreams has escaped that box. I wonder what other dream will make its way out of the box in 2010? Are you willing to put your dream out there?
