The Best Year Ever

For me 2008 has been the best year ever and I have every reason to celebrate it.

Last New Years Eve I was in Michigan but had to drive back to Geneva, Alabama where I lived and worked. This was my fourth year in the south for work.

Yes when I first moved down south to Houston there was an excitement of opportunity and growth. In some aspects I think it was just a matter of proving myself to myself. And it was a good adventure, I ended up making a ton of new friends, made it going into a town and a company where I didn’t know anyone and feel that I succeeded. It made me feel strong in a way that I never felt before.

But the best lesson of all was one I already thought I knew. Family is the top of the list of what matters.

I am blessed with a great family. Somehow my kids ended up being more awesome than I could have dreamed of. They are smart, nice and show compassion and love. And they feel loved and self confident and that is the greatest achievement a parent can have I think.

Also I inherited a great bunch of friends and ex-relatives when I married into the Leppala family. After an amicable divorce I still kept the friends and family.

Somehow sitting in a group of people that you have only known a few months is nothing compared to sitting in a group of people with whom you have a rich history. Sure you can make basic conversation and joke around but without the deep roots it’s just trite and meaningless.

So finally when I returned after Christmas break last year I walked into my bosses office and informed him that I couldn’t do it any more.

Like Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz I just kept wanting to click my heels together and go home because I had learned how true it is ‘There’s No Place Like Home’.

These last few days this year of the New Years Eve Party and New Years Day dinner with friends and family was the great illustrator of what was missing in the South for me. Treats like Richie’s fudge taken from the official ‘Fudge Server’. The all important Air Hockey Tournament’. Getting together at Richie’s for Sloppy Joes and checking out the award winning needlecraft that his mom made. Taking Julia and Jenna to get their ears pierced.

These are the things that you can’t buy anywhere but make my life the beautiful adventure it is.