2019 has been an eventful year, full of ups and downs joy and laughter and all of the myriad other emotions we go through. Again I say - if I had known Oi would live this long I would have taken better care of myself. I truly never expected to make 70 years - and in that odd way things happen with dates, about to enter my 1th decade on this here third rock from the sun.
It has been a down year health wise, beginning with getting really sick when summer kicked in in North Carolina. It really wiped me out. And then, a sinus infection that is expected to last three weeks or so hammered us all here in Brentwood but we still had a fun Christmas. I watched three of my great nieces ripping through wrapping paper like the Tasmanian devil. A fun time was had by all here in nippy Brunted, CA.
Yes the rode to Brentwood was fraught with action and adventure, Zombies and a very interesting young guy in Cleveland - a waiter in a place called The Chocolate Bar that knows as much about our music as I do - and my eventual return home to California, Boy what a 70th Birthday Party my friends and I had in Sacramento last August at our 52nd year reunion from high school. There was a room full of people that has gotten to connect/reconnect through Facebook and then kick the tires and light the fires at a great party. A grand time was had by all.
And then there was a connection made with someone who has shared classes with me since 7th grade - she even posted the class pic. Vicki Martinez aka Lee has become one of my closest and best friends. It has been a kick getting to know Vicki. And to the lady who sat next to me and said I would not recognize her and pointed to her picture - I simply said oh come on Indiana Newman - I have seen the Facebook pics. Who woulda thunk Debbie Newman would be our own version of Indiana Jones. Once again, thanks to Betty, Mary, Joyce, and everyone else responsible for that great time.
There was one more reconnection - my old friend KT and I reconnected after 50 plus years. Lots of catching up to do and the process is well under way.
All in all, 2019 was a very good year - getting back to CA was worth every bit of the effort.
And now we look ahead to 2020 - a year that is critical to our survival as a society. One can only hope the deep divide that we have created is somehow reversed.We are better than this - we have to be.
That is it for 2-on-1 blogs this year and we are working on expanding a bit in 2020 so everyone have a safe and happy new year, see you next week.
You know one of the DOWNsides of knowing and taking an interest in people slightly (or a lot) older than me? It's when the likes of you and Ramana talk about your respective health. Oh my god. Obviously my heart goes out to you and everyone limping; however, I'd be lying if I didn't say that I do bank on my forebears' amazing genes. A few, barely any, snuffed it without further ado fairly early on. The rest (not least my parents, for heaven's sake) seem to go on forever and with barely a dent. For my sins I might make it to one hundred - totally compos mentis and as fit as a fiddle. In the meantime, listening to you, Ramana and other friends, I feel like a sitting target. To be ambushed, unawares, any time. Let my eternal optimism, even in the face of occasional adversity, be my saving grace.
ReplyDeleteBy way of anecdote, and please don't tell anyone, the other day my doctor, dead suspicious, phoned me to enquire whether I was talking the pills. No, I said. They'll kill me, judging by the long list of side effects. Anyway, we'll all die at some point. And I don't believe in prolonging the inevitable. Though, dear dog in heaven, Shackman, I so shall miss being there for my son should he need me; plus the minutiae of daily life, its tiny happinesses apropos of nothing, and the wonderment that constitutes the world.
It's lovely to hear you so upbeat, but then - generally - you are. Great to renew old friendships, good to forge new ones.
I wish you a resoundingly contented 2020 (if my maths is still intact I take it you were born in 1950?).
Hug (if Ramana can spare one of mine destined for him; not, of course, that my hug account isn't infinite),
Ursula
One more thing that we have in common. The hindsight that had we known that we would reach seventy, we would have taken better care of ourselves. Not having done that however, I think that both of us have handled our problems with aplomb and carried on with our lives to the best of our lives.
ReplyDeleteBoth of our year has been full of people. Not surprising really considering how much we value them in our lives.
You had your journey and relocation. I had my visitors and deaths to keep me company.
Let us hope that our 2020 turns out to be less stressful and more enjoyable.
bravo dear friend for making a life changing trip and enjoying it so much and even writing about it for the rest of us to share that enjoyment! more blessings to come heaped upon your head for the new decade. talk about a fresh clean sheet! Writer write on! xoxo
ReplyDelete