Was it a horrible year? 2007

I look at 2007 and think what a horrible year. This year has been full of tragedy. My best friend Dave passed away & left behind his son & wife. A great friend of mine Sam passed away & left a gaping hole in a whole community of people. A friend Shayna passed away in a tragic car accident. She was one of the daughters of a small community so her passing affected every one in that community. My friend Janet had a stroke that she survived but the final outcome of the damage is still yet to be seen.

Looks like a horrible year. Then I look deeper. I got to see Dave this year before he died. I saw Dave rarely these days usually just once over Christmas & even then did not get to spend the kind of time I wish I could have. He was a different person most of the time because of overuse of alcohol. To get to see him sober & know that he would even remember our time together was great, especially considering the timing before his death.

I spent time with Sam frequently over the last 11 years, this year was no exception. I thought about Sam & found that even though her death is sad, it was not tragic. She lived every minute of her life & left nothing she wanted to do undone. The only thing we'll miss out on now is more of a full life. I got to see her just before she died. She told me she loved me as she always did. I did not feel like I missed out on anything in my friendship with Sam.

Jack a new soul to this life was born, Anatomist after what seemed to be an eternal pregnancy brought him in & he came in with no complications, totally healthy. That is another good part of the year. Oh, the pregnancy seemed eternal because she blogged what seemed to be every horrible second of the pregnancy. If any of you want to dissuade your daughters from getting pregnant, cut out Anatomist's pregnancy & just after pregnancy blog's, I think those blogs are one of the best birth controls possible.

Dave's son even though he will not get to spend anymore time with his dad, has a family in Dave's relatives and in Wendy's along with some friends that will care for him. He will not miss out on good input from his elders. Greg I know will have a great influence on him & Wendy is one of the most caring person's in the world. There is no doubt on this as she is the only one that I think could have loved Dave the way she did. He had some personality traits that weaker people would not be able to see past to get to the good stuff about Dave.

Janet had her stroke & even though it could have been, thankfully it wasn't worse. I talked to her in the hospital & she seemed to get better just over the couple of days I was able to spend time there. They released her earlier than expected, I take this as a good sign. Janet is going to stick around, another good part of the year.

Through my newer northwest friends I have gotten to meet many of what I consider to be some of the best people, this year. The only comparison I can make is to my Arizona friends who to my view could have never been bested as far as being stand up quality people. Don't get me wrong, I know all my friends are weird & that is what I love about them. The one thing about the Phoenix crew & the Northwest people I now know is they are all true, no fakes.

The people I did not lose this year outnumber the people I did lose by many times. These really changed my view on this year. There have been some up's & down's but overall this has been a good year. 2008 will be even better because no one is going to die, that is my new years wish.