2013 - AVE ATQUE VALE

Today is the last day of 2013.

It is the anniversary of the day - thirty-eight (count ’em!) years ago - on which I met the woman who would eventually become my one and only Missus... a story that, of course, merits its own post.  

Assisted by the relentless media disgorgement of “Best Of,” “Worst Of,” and “Who’s Dead Now?” lists, I tend to become reflective during the final days of each calendar year. Even better: As a Red Sea Pedestrian, I get to have two periods of maudlin navel-gazing every year - one for the Gregorian year and one for the Hebrew year.

It is a natural thing to do, I suppose, as we turn the leaf of the Calendar-Book. We reflect on what’s past while we look forward with eagerness (and no small degree of trepidation) to what is to come.

We had our share of heartache in the past twelvemonth. In early December, She Who Must Be Obeyed lost her stepfather, a sometimes sweet and often difficult man who had been part of our lives for over three decades. Our sweet little Ragdoll kitten Levon died suddenly and unexpectedly in June, an emotional body blow that is gradually healing thanks to the fuzzy ministrations of Stella, the newest feline member of the Elisson clan. Add to these personal losses the backdrop of other bereavements our family and friends have had to endure, and the passing of so many familiar faces of popular culture... suffice it to say that these days, I don’t ask a whole lot of questions about for whom the bell tolls, lest I get an answer I’m not gonna like. (I also don’t buy green bananas.)

Happy moments? Sure! This was the year, after all, that SWMBO celebrated a Significant Birthday (gentlemanly decorum forbids my being specific about the number) with a week-long debauch vacation in Las Vegas with Elder Daughter and a horde of our good friends, followed by an unrelenting stream of parties and other pleasant diversions. And we had the pleasure of the company of both our daughters at the one and only Thanksgivvukah to take place in our lifetimes.

As in years past, we have enjoyed the comfort of family and the warmth of friendship. We have dealt with the pleasant and unpleasant, both disappointments and happy surprises. We have managed to ride this blue marble for yet another trip around the Sun. And, in so many ways both great and small, we are blessed.

May 2014 bring you, Esteemed Reader, the good things life has to offer - health, happiness, love, safety, and success - without limit; and should any less-than-good things cross your path, may they be infrequent and insignificant. Happy New Year!