It's been a year

No, he's not a corgi, he's a Sweedish vallhund

And that’s an understatement. It was a mix of good and bad and while there’s been more good than bad, the bad that was there was bad.

First the good. I’m not sure what the biggest event of the year was: my graduating from SNHU or my wife and I celebrating thirty years of marriage by going on a cruise. If I had to choose, I’d say our anniversary. While earning my Master’s is probably a once-in-a-lifetime event, being married for thirty years will never happen again. Close behind those two was our youngest not only leaving the nest but buying his own place. And then comes the release of Crown Jewels. After that, things get a bit more jumbled: I won the bardic competition at Spring Feast with a story I wrote, and I actually got my motorcycle license. And… I’m sure other good stuff happened, but it’s not coming to mind right now.

As for the bad, there’s only two things that stick in my head. The first is that our youngest suffered a psychotic episode last spring and wound up spending a couple of weeks at Shodair Children’s Hospital for treatment. The second is that our dog, Tux, died this fall. He was thirteen and his health was failing the last couple of months so, when it came time to say goodbye, it wasn’t a surprise. That doesn’t mean it was easy; he was a goofball and he’d been a wonderful friend for the seven years he spent with us, and he will be missed.

What will the new year bring? For the most part, who knows? The only thing set in stone so far is that I’ll finally get my knee replaced. Beyond that, all I can say is that it will be a mix of good and bad and I can only hope that the former outweighs the latter.