A 10-Year Retrospective

As we approach the turning of the year, I decided to look back over the last ten.

This is what I came up with.

In 2008, my father-in-law passed away. Other stuff happened that year.

In 2009, my mother-in-law passed away. Other stuff happened that year.

In 2010, I took my wife and sons to Fenway Park for their first (and only) Red Sox game. Too expensive to do regularly. Other stuff happened that year.

In 2011, my wife had a brain tumor which was successfully removed. My oldest son graduated from high school. Other stuff happened that year.

In 2012, I had prostate cancer and had my prostate removed. Other stuff happened that year.

In 2013, my youngest son graduated high school and I was diagnosed with a degenerative condition. Other stuff happened that year.

In 2014, we made our very last trip to North Carolina after doing it yearly for over 20 years. I had a hip replaced. Other stuff happened that year.

In 2015, my oldest son moved out. My wife and I flew to Jacksonville, Florida to visit relatives. Other stuff happened that year.

In 2016, my youngest son moved out AND got married. My wife and I flew to Savannah, Georgia - the first time we have been there since 1986.  It was for our anniversary and where I asked her to marry me. Other stuff happened that year.

In 2017, stuff happened that year.

In 2018, my wife had both knees replaced. We left the church we had been attending for 20 years. Other stuff happened this year.

So the big question for me is, are the years defined by the big stuff that happens or the other stuff?

Here's to 2019 and whatever stuff it brings.

Reflections of a Dead Website

Written in March 2007.

 

I got self-indulgent the other night. Logged in to poets.com, the old poets.com - it can still be
done if you know where to look.
 

Had to sign up as someone looking to try it out, so I came up with a name that has never been me, never been used and gave an email address that looked appropriate for a porn site, all xxx's with a @ and .com at the end.
 

And once I was in, this time as mrscrubs, I gave a review of utter nonsense to someone I don't know.
 

Doesn't matter. That person will never see it.
 

I saw the top 10 lists still populated with names familiar for so long. There are a few people who keep trying to work the site like old times, but once you log off, you can't go back again unless you sign up again as someone else looking to try it out.
 

I looked up old friends, all the names and pictures are still there as well as the poems they left behind. I imagined reading and reviewing them, messaging them,
 

...receiving both back in kind.
 

It was a little strange, a little sad.
 

Like going back to the old house you grew up in and it's still there, but abandoned. All the same furniture remains in the same place as when you left it, but no one sits in it anymore.
 

If you are like me, you will walk around that house, sit in your favorite chair and remember what it used to be like.  You will explore all the little nooks and crannies, trying to discover memories long since buried in musty time.
 

Eventually you will stop and realize that all the sounds and laughter you were hearing were in your head, that the reality is much more quiet.
 

And it will become a bit spooky as the memories turn into ghosts instead, leading you down the paths less pleasant as you wonder why you went there in the first place.
 

It is then that you will look for the way out. But you know that you will return again and again until you can't return any more. Until you lose the connection altogether.