Happy New Year to All!

As a helium balloon rises higher and higher in the sky, my wishes for each of you, my Vocal friends (and friends I am yet to meet), rise with hope and anticipation of a better year in 2022 than we have had in a while now!

None of us need any reminders of that time in the long-ago past (it seems) when we had never heard of a thing called Covid-19. For two years now, it has literally upended our collective existence and rearranged our daily lives in many ways.

Thankfully, the intervention of medical research has brought vaccines and treatments that light candles of hope to illuminate the way ahead.

But in other ways, we each hold the key to unlocking a better future for ourselves and those we love and care for, as well as countless people we have never met and probably never will. Whether across the street or across the planet, our lives are intertwined in ways we may never know.

From birth, we are attached by strong cords of shared physical and emotional bonds. We share the same heredity and chromosomal patterns as our parents, grandparents, siblings, and other blood kin.

From birth, we build on those elemental connections a lifetime of bonding (physical, emotional, intellectual, and spiritual) ties that we sing about at the stroke of midnight on December 31 - January 1.

"Should auld (old) acquaintance be forgot, and never brought to mind?

Should auld (old) acquaintance be forgot, and days of Auld (old) Lang Syne?"

"For Auld Lang Syne, my dear, For Auld Lang Syne,

I'll take a cup of kindness, yet, for Auld Lang Syne".

Remembering old times, days gone by, reminiscing about shared experiences that build lasting ties...this seems to be an inborn part of our mental and emotional being.

As we remember the past, our minds also reach forward into the future.

People we have not met yet will come into our lives and add to the tapestry that is our life's unique masterpiece.

We feel drawn to strive for improvement, so we make resolutions, write out a list of our most fervent aspirations, set goals, and make lists for the 365 days of the brand new year.

If we are feeling philosophical , we might click into Goodreads quotes for some inspiring words and sentiments. This one caught my attention in my quotes search today.

“Well, we have a whole new year ahead of us. And wouldn't it be wonderful if we could all be a little more gentle with each other, a little more loving, and have a little more empathy, and maybe, next year at this time we'd like each other a little more.”

― Judy Garland - (Dorothy on The Wizard of Oz)

One thing I want to do in 2022, and I hope you will do the same, is be more mindful of counting my many blessings.

Can we start with ten things that come to mind when we count our blessings?

Let me try.

1. I am thankful that I had my wonderful parents for 62 years of my life. They taught me, by example, what unconditional love really means.

2. I am thankful for my three brothers who shared the joys and sorrows of my growing up years and beyond.

3. My three children, five grandchildren, one (soon to be two) great-grandchildren are the joy of my life, my heart and soul.

4. The gift of 71 birthdays so far, quite a lot of living along the way.

5. The blessing of good (restored) vision. After having vision problems most of my life, followed by cataracts, I was able to have double cataract surgery in 2019 and my distance vision is now 20/20 - 20/30. I still need reading glasses close up, but that is okay.

6. Good friends have blessed my journey throughout...some have passed from this life and some still remain.

7. Precious memories.

8. Good food and clean, clear drinking water.

9. Interesting, challenging work in various Allied Medical jobs.

10. The joy of reading and the gift of writing my own stories, articles, and whatever I want to, with a place like Vocal to share with other writers.

We cannot know what lies ahead, but together we can help build better lives in a kinder world...or at least give it our best effort every day in 2022.

Finally, I would like to share with you a song by Kathy Mattea I recently discovered that reminds us of all the things we take for granted, we see and look away from. Let us hope that in 2022, we will open our eyes and see the beauty and blessings that surround us.