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Sadly, it was the last decade that I had my Dad in my life and one more distancing moment. On the flipside it was my first full decade with my son…and boy did we pack a lot into one decade! It was book ended with me meeting Bruce, Evan on stage and playing air guitar with Bruce Springsteen at the beginning of the decade, and Evan jamming with some of his musical heroes last month and then recording his own songs last night in Paul Gigliotti’s studio…and there was quite a bit of music and sports and family events that fell in between!
The last 2 years of the decade were tough with Dad’s health and his passing, Mom’s health, the loss of so many great people, and changes both personally and professionally. But when I look back, all of the good things out-weighed the bad, tenfold. It’s easy to focus on the losses and disappointments, but Mayor Jim Diodati said something at Alex Luey’s Celebration of Life this past weekend that really resonated with me. He said (and I paraphrase) - “if you look hard enough you will find something good that comes out of every bad situation in life”. He’s so right. It’s hard to find that perspective when you are knee deep in your sorrow. But when you do come through it, hopefully you have found that “something good” that you can take with you as you move forward.
My friend Gord, who lost his Mom Cathy this past year, sent myself and another friend a wonderful note last week where he said that the one thing he learned from his loss was “that you have to tell the people you love that you love them while you have the time”. I agree and it has been my philosophy since the day I lost my Grandpa and didn’t get the chance to tell him I was sorry. Be thankful for every day here on this big blue marble, say I love you, cry when you need to, play your music loud, dance like Elaine, run like Forrest….and enjoy every ‘fucking’ sandwich!
For me, as Tom Petty says “it’s time to move on, time to get going” or as Bob says time to “turn the page”. Thanks for hanging out here on Facebook with me over the past decade. You may have noticed that I like to post…a lot. Not sure why…I just do…lol. But I believe it’s a great place to stay connected and to share our lives…and I appreciate all the Likes, Loves, Wows and Laughs along the way. Thank you for reading 😊
Here’s to a New Year with peace, health, happiness and love.
To quote Todd Snider:
“Happy New Year everybody!
Happy Birthday Country Joe!”