1 Jan 10 – Happy New Year!

You must be excited, two blogs in one week! Technically I sent one late last year, and one already this year. 2009 has come and gone and the future looks much brighter already. I just got off the phone with my lovely bride and my grand baby. What a nice way to start the day and the New Year! Aubrey knows I’m coming back sometime February, she is ready for grandpa to “Thump” her. Her voice just sparkles when you talk to her somehow making the stress of being here disappear.

I’m not normally one to make New Year’s resolutions but this year I feel that the message I received below has some profound thoughts to live by. It’s a great story that I adjusted to fit my life, read on and enjoy!

This year I vow I will never trade my amazing friends, my wonderful life, and my loving family for less gray hair or a flatter belly. As I've aged, I've become kinder to myself, and less critical of myself. I've become my own friend. I don't chide myself for eating that extra cookie, or for not making my bed, or for buying that silly cement frog that I didn't need, but looks so awesome in my garden. I am entitled to a treat, to be extravagant.

I have seen too many dear friends leave this world too soon; before they understood the great freedom that comes with aging.

Whose business is it if I choose to read or play on the computer until 4 AM and sleep until noon? I will dance with myself in my boxers if I want to those wonderful tunes of the 60, 70 &80's, and if I, at the same time, wish to weep over a lost love ... I will.

I will walk the beach in a swim suit that is stretched over a bulging body, and will dive into the waves with abandon if I choose to, despite the pitying glances from the jet set.

They, too, will get old. I know I am sometimes forgetful. But there again, some of life is just as well forgotten. And I eventually remember the important things.

Sure, over the years my heart has been broken. How can your heart not break when you lose a loved one, or when a child suffers, or even when somebody's beloved pet dies after being faithful for so long? But broken hearts are what give us strength, understanding and compassion. A heart never broken is pristine and sterile and will never know the joy of being imperfect.

I am so blessed to have lived long enough to have my hair turning gray, and to have my youthful laughs be forever etched into deep grooves on my face. So many have never laughed, and so many have died before their hair could turn silver.

As you get older, it is easier to be positive. You care less about what other people think. Or maybe it’s the voice’s talking to me inside my head that really scare me! I don't question myself anymore. If in the middle of the night I have to go to the bathroom I better. The longer the wait, the faster you have to move to get there. I've even earned the right to be wrong, or so I’m told.

So, to answer your question, I like being old. It has set me free. I like the person I have become. I am not going to live forever, but while I am still here, I will not waste time lamenting what could have been, or worrying about what will be. And I shall eat dessert every single day (if I feel like it).

MAY OUR FRIENDSHIP NEVER COME APART ESPECIALLY WHEN IT’S STRAIGHT FROM THE HEART!

Hopefully you can make it to our families annual New Year’s Eve Bonfire that was postponed to 27 Feb 10. If you have questions on what to bring please contact me.

In closing I wish you and yours a wonderful New Year and wish you all the best!

That is all,

Dave