Goodbye 2014!  

We are on the cusp of moving into a new, calendar year. New Year’s Eve is often quite magical. The partying, the reveling, and the excitement are great fun for many people and for them I wish nothing but a safe and happy experience. I, for one, enjoy a quieter time, however. I’m quite content to stay at home away from raucous crowds that sap my energy. I certainly will toast to the New Year and, like so many others, harbor hopes for good health, happiness, prosperity, peace, and joy, but I will do so in my own introverted (yes!) style. I’m much more comfortable that way.

The magic of New Year’s Eve, for me, lies in being introspective. I like to reflect on the year and give thanks for the good things. This year the highlights have been: publishing my memoir, Tumor Me – The Story of My Firefighter; making it through May 24, 2014, the year marker of losing Alex with “a little help from my friends”; enjoying my good pals– the Champagne Study Group and others on the fringe; having the love and support of Rick, who is my best friend; loving my son, Justin and his beautiful family; adoring my grandkids who I don’t see enough; walking my German shepherd and Chocolate Lab/Britney three miles a day; cuddling my one-eyed cat, Poncho; planting flowers at the CAL FIRE St. Helena Station memorial for Alex; being 40,000 words into my third novel (a mystery); staying connected with distant family and former students via Facebook (really!); hiking the Sierra near Lake Tahoe; seeing amazing plays at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival; watching the San Francisco Giants win the World Series (or as my grandson once called it, “The World Serious”); staying fit and healthy; enjoying my new BMW 435i (It’s the “material” girl in me.); enjoying seeing my friends’ successes (Alicia in particular); donating to good causes; planting a garden and watching it flourish; watching our beautiful hummingbirds flit about the garden; feeding the koi; reading, reading, and reading more; writing my blogs; laughing, crying, grieving, smiling, and knowing it’s all okay.

It’s late afternoon on December 31, 2014 and the above is a short list of highlights that immediately came to mind. I suppose I could go on and on, but I’ll spare the reader! This is the last blog of the 2014, and with it, I wish everyone the absolute best in the year to come.