Reflection Of 2009

I Guess The Best Way To Describe The Year 2009 Is To Refer To It As The Good, Bad And The Ugly. Let It Be Known I Hate Winter!
I Really Don't Like To Mention January, February Or March Because If I Had My Way Those Three Months Of My Life Is Almost Non Existent. It's Not That Nothing Good, Bad Or Ugly Ever Happened, It's Just A Horrible Time Of My Life Because Of Winter In The Midwest During Those Months. I Call Those Months My Hibernation. In My Opinion Life Begins On April 1st Of Every Year.
Ok, Let's See....January. We Can't Forget The 3rd Because If It Weren't For That Date You Would Not Be Reading This. My Father's Birthday Is On The 3rd. My Sisters Birthday Is On The 7th. To Maintain My Sanity I Bowl On Thursday's With The Old Folks.
Was There Even A February? Oh Yes Ofcourse There Was. Who Can Forget Groundhog Day? Unless That Little Critter Had Good News To Report I Would As Soon See His Butt End Up As Road Kill! (Just Kidding P.E.T.A)
Ok, How About March, My Last Month Of Hibernation? Ofcourse For My Family It Was A Tragic One At That. In That Month My Mother Lost Two Of Her Brothers, Rick And Then Danny, Just 2 Days Apart. Let's Just Forget About The Rest Of That Month.
April 1st, My First Official Start Of The New Season. This Has Always Been When I Get Things Going For The Charitable Organization I Am Involved With. As A Matter Of Fact It Was The Birth Of The Robin Hood Foundation Of Danville. The Organization I Had Been Involved With For So Many Years No Longer Wanted To Distribute Left-Over Rummage. Since I Had Been Doing This For 22 Years I Could Not Turn My Back On These Wonderful People Who Lived In Poverty. I Became Certified Over The Winter Months With The State Of Illinois Which Resulted In My Becoming Director Of This Fine Organization.
April Brought With It Another Tragic Death And This Time It Was My Grandmother. She Passed Away On April 9th. She Was 94.
My Bowling Team Lost A Cherished Man In Ralph(Magoo)Howard. He Was Such A Fun Person To Know. I Will Miss Him.
April With The New Flowers Coming From The Ground Also Brings Mushrooms. It Has Always Been A Tradition With My Son We Go Into The Woods For What I Always Refer To As White Man Soul Food.
Danville Has Had A Very Nice Summertime With The Exception Of A Few Very Hot And Humid Days, Which Is Always Expected In The Midwest.
My Sister In law Lost Her Father And My Parents Lost A Dear Friend In George Popadines.
At Summer's End Final Preparations Were Being Made For The Return Of My Brother Tuck. He Had Been Living In San Diego For 25 Years. Upon His Retirement He Was Returning To His Roots And Bringing His Wife Who Knew No Other Weather Than That Of Southern California. Boy Is She Ever In For A Surprise! Ofcourse I Won't Forget My Introduction To Barnee, Tuck And Evelyn's Boston Terrier. He's Such A Good And Loyal Dog And It Was My Pleasure In Meeting Him.
Tuck's First Week Back In Danville Brought Me The Luck I Had Been Searching For. My First 600 Series In Bowling! Bowling Is My Passion And I Enjoy Competing In The Sport.
We Had A Few Health Scares With My Dad. He Had An Infection In His Colon And A Couple Heart Procedures. All In All It Appears He Is Mending Well And Back On The Road To Recovery.
My Friend Chris And I Venture To Westville Each And Every Sunday For Our Euchre Lessons. We Have Been Doing This For More Than 5 Years Now. It's Something We Enjoy Doing Plus It Allows Me To Spend Quality Time With My Folks. We Were Able To Re-Claim Our Crown Back After Losing It. We Always Keep Track Of Our Wins And Losses And Each Year It Is Never A Run Away, This Year Especially. Last Sunday Going Into Play Chris And I Were Only One Game Ahead Of Them. The End Result Was Chris And I Won Overall By Three Games. We Will Gladly Wear Our Euchre Crown Because We Know We Earned It. Our Opponents Have Been Playing Together For More Than 57 Years! One Thing Is For Sure. If We Won, We Earned It.
A Couple Weeks Ago We Received News That Brenda Had Another Stroke. It Was Touch And Go For Her In The Beginning But For The Ones Who Know Her Best Are Aware She Is A Fighter. This Stroke Left Her Paralyzed On The Left Side. She Is Slowly Getting Her Strength Back And Will be Released From The Hospital On New Years Day. Praise God For That!
It's Great To Have My Brother Tuck Back In Danville. It's Good To See My Father Back On The Road Of Recovery. It Appears He May Be Able To Bowl Again. His Doctor Told Him To Quit. Because Of The Success Of These Procedures He May Be Able To Rejoin The League Once Again!
I Received A Phone Call Asking For Assistance On A Bed. A Lady Had No Heat In Her Trailer And Church Members Needed To Move Her Out. Circumstances Prevent Her From Taking Things With Her. I Was To Make The Donation This Afternoon But Had To Cancel Because My Battery Is Dead. I Don't Have The Funds To Replace The Battery At The Moment So I Assured Them The Bed Is Not Going Anywhere. They Need To Find Someone With A Truck To Pick It Up.
My Trailer Was Borrowed By The Pastor's Grand Daughter's New Home In Georgia. I Told Them To Take Their Time Because I Won't Need It Until After The First Of April.
My Truck Needs About $500.00 Worth Of Work Before I Can Start My Season In The New Year.
Oh, That Brings Me To Inquiring Your Opinions In How You Will Pronounce The New Year. Since The Beginning Of This New Century We Began Calling It Two Thousand, Two Thousand One, Two Thousand Two, Etc. I Think It's The Media That Is Preparing Us To Refer To The Future Years Ahead By Calling it 2010, 2011, 2012, Etc. I didn't Realize This Until Recently. I Had All Intentions Of Calling This New Year Two Thousand Ten. Then I Thought Of Those Who Lived In The Early Years Of The 1900's. They Probably Also Referred Their Year Nineteen Hundred One, Nineteen Hundred Two, Etc. At Some Point In Time They Too Began Calling Years 1910, 1911, 1912, Etc.
Yes I Know, A Bunch Of Useless Information. I Was Just Curious As To Your Own Pronunciation Of The Coming New Year. At Some Point We Must Change Our Ways Or Everybody In The World Will Know You Are An Old Fuddy Duddy That Refuses To Change With Time.
So All In All I Would Have To Say I Will Be Happy To See 2009 Leave. To Me It Will Be Just Another Year Of Reflection With A Whole Lot Of Sickness, Sadness And Deaths.
My Hopes For The New Year Will Be To See Happiness To Those Who Need And Deserve It.
Stay Tuned For My Last Blog For This Old Year. In It You Will Read What My Wishes Are For This New Coming Year.
In Closing I Say Farewell To 2009 And Hello To 2010 Or Two Thousand And Ten. However You Say It!