Remembering Past And Looking Forward

Looking Back At 2012 I Would Have To Say The Weather Stands Out More Than Any One Thing In Particular. At The Beginning Of Last Winter We Experienced Cold And Bitter Temperatures. We Were Prepared For One Of The Harshest Winters. Much Surprise To Most Of Us At The Turn Of The New Year (2012) The Temps Were Above Average. Those Living In The Midwest Saw The Least Amount Of Snowfall. Actually It Was Declared The Third Mildest Winter On Record. I Got My Snow Shovel Out One Time And It Was Just Used To Remove An Inch Or Two Of Snow. The Likelihood Of Ever Seeing A Winter Like This In My Lifetime Would Be Slim To None. It Doesn't End Just There. We Jumped From Winter Right Into Summer. Speaking Of Summer Chalk Up Another Record Breaker. We Experienced A Drought I Had Never Seen Before. The Only Thing That Came From This Drought Was No Mowing Grass For Almost Three Months. The Grass Turned Brown And Stayed That Way Until Almost Near The End Of Summer.
Record Hot Temperatures Blasted Throughout The Midwestern States. Lakes And Rivers Were Shrinking And In Some Places Cities Were Requesting Residents To Conserve On Their Water Use.
As I Sit Here On The Last Day Of 2012 Soon I Will Watch The Nation Ring In A New Year. How Can We Ever Do That Without Dick Clark? Dick Passed Away Last April. The Man Who Never Aged Would No Longer Host A New Year's Eve Celebration.
Departing This Wonderful Earth To Just Name A Few Was The Man Responsible For Being The First Person To Walk On The Moon, Neil Armstrong. Music Icons Whitney Houston, Donna Summer, Robin Gibb And Kitty Wells. Those We Saw On The Big Screen Or Television Well Known Names Like Ernest Borgnine, Larry Hagman, Jack Klugman, Sherman Hensley, Phyllis Diller And Andy Griffith.
My Brother Tuck And Wife Evelyn Were Able To Travel Back To California To Spend Time With Their Daughter And New Husband. My Parents Stayed In Their Home And Got Well Acquainted With Granddog Jackee.
Closer To The Home Front We Chalk Up Another Great Year For The Robin Hood Foundation Of Danville. Our Grand Finale Was Yet Another Successful Blanket Drive. More Than 400 Beds Will Be Warmer This Winter's Season Because Of The Generosity Of Those Who Donated Blankets To Those Living In Poverty.
So There You Are Folks, This Years Events As I Remember Them. If I Failed To Mention Something Of Importance Just Chalk It Up To Forgetfulness.
Looking Ahead In Just A Few Days Will Be My Father's 80th Birthday. He Prefers To Keep It Simple So We Will Have A Little Cake At The Bowling Alley In Celebration.
Since I Didn't Win The Lottery I Will Fire Up The Old 1993 Box Truck The First Week Of April And Start Helping People Obtain Items They Cannot Afford. This Will Be My 27th Year In Picking Up Left-Over Rummage Sale Items. You Just Never Know What You Will Find A Long The Way. Each Year Can Be An Interesting One.
One Thing I Want To Mention. My Last Blog Titled "Remembering Bobby" Gave Me Reason To Reminisce About Fond Memories I Had Of Bobby. As A Matter Of Fact There Have Been Numerous Blogging Moments About Bobby. Even Though I Have Mentioned Touching And Memorable Moments And Times Of Bobby It Also Allowed Me To Heal. Two Years I Have Grieved For My Son. I Found Blogging  Has Helped Me Move Forward In My Life. You Can't Put A Time Table On One's Grief. We Are All Different. Even Though It's Just As Fresh In My Mind Of The Events Of Bobby, There Comes A Time You Must Let Go. I Found Myself Not Being The Productive Person That I Can Be, Or Once Was. In Order To Move Forward I Cannot Continue To Live In The Past. Please Don't Misunderstand Me. I Think It's Healthy To Look Back And Remember The Good Times. In Order For Me To Be More Productive, The Days That Led To His Death Must Be Shelved. For Too Long I Have Been Haunted By What If's.
Things I Cannot Change I Must Put To Rest And Move Forward. I Will Forever Love My Son And Miss Him Dearly. However, I Have A Beautiful Daughter, Wife And Grandchildren Who I Need To Focus On. The Years Ahead Of Me Need More Attention Than Those Behind Me. What Is Done Is Done.
I Have Always Been A Firm Believer That God Has A Purpose For Us All. Senseless Deaths We Cannot Understand Will Someday Be Revealed In His Bigger Plan For Us.
So When A Crazy Man Guns Down Innocent Children At School Or A Tornado Wipes Out An Entire Community, There Is A Reason. Maybe That's Why Life Seems To Be So Mysterious. The Answer To All Our Questions Lies Beyond. One Day We Will Understand.
For Now Though I Will Try To Focus More On Those Who Matters Most. I Will Try To Stay Positive In Things I Do In My Life. Maybe Along The Way I Can Drop A Few Pounds To Make Things Easier In April So I Can Get In And Out Of My Truck. Will This Be The Year I Roll My First 300 In Bowling? Oh God Let It Be While My Dad Is Watching. Recently He Has Been One Of My Biggest Supporters In Watching Me Bowl With The Old Folks On Thursday. Him And My Mother Show Up And Cheer On The Keenager's Each Week. I Certainly Hope They Know How Much I Appreciate It. They Claim No Shame In Me Accusing Them Of Child Abuse By Declaring Themselves Winners At The Euchre Table. Like The Cubs For Me And Tuck, Maybe Next Year.
So There You Have It. This Is As Close As It Gets To Making A New Year's Resolution This Year. I Make You Only One Promise When It Comes To My Blogs. This One Will Be My Last In 2012.