New Year’s Eve Reflections

Those of my generation may recall an early 1960s TV show entitled That was the Week that Was that aired on Friday nights.  It was an Americanized version of a popular BBC show that offered a satirical take on some of the news that broke during the week.  Maybe needing a bit of humor during those cold war days, my family would gather in my parent’s bedroom (where our black and white TV was) to watch it.  There was a jingle that I still remember that went something like this: ♫ That was the week that was, it’s over let it go. ♫   Well on this New Year’s Eve, I would like to adapt that jingle to sing:

“♫ That was the year that was, it’s over let it go. ♫”

Often on New Year’s Eve, we reflect back on how the year has been for us and our families and since this is the last Sunday of the year as well as New Year’s Eve, I thought I would do the same.  I have also written before that I much prefer even numbers over odd numbers and so I’m glad to see 2023 come to a close and look forward to an even numbered year 2024.  But beyond just being an odd numbered year, 2023 was a year filled with several events that as the show jingle sang, I prefer to “let it go.”

The first event occurred early in the year in February when my wife’s dearest sister lost her six+ year battle with cancer.  If ever there was an individual that faced cancer with spunk and determination, it was my sister-in-law.  As she endured each one of the multiple rounds of treatment over the years, she celebrated with a unique party theme for her family and friends to follow along during her medical regimen.  Following some of these rounds, there were periods of remission, but that nasty cancer just kept coming back in different ways.

All of our lives will forever be changed with her loss; she will be sorely missed.

My next “let it go” event occurred mid-summer when our youngest son’s divorce was finalized.  While it became official at that point, the marriage had been on a tumultuous downward spiral for quite some time and in the end, I feel it was for the best.  But my heart was broken for their almost three-year-old son who could not understand what was happening.

It has taken everyone a while to adjust to the new “new”, but I am glad to say all is working out well.

My next “let it go”, also occurring in the summer, was a tooth problem that started out as an occasional sensitivity when biting down that morphed into an abscess with my face looking like a one-sided chipmunk.  Despite several dentist visits with close scrutiny and x-rays, no etiology could be elucidated.  At least that is until when I went in to see the dentist for the fourth time the day before I was leaving on a trip, to discover that the tooth, a bicuspid on my right side, had in fact broken in half down to the root.

In addition to x-rays, the dentist had taken photos of my tooth and on this last visit, he showed me the difference that had occurred over the last three weeks.  Fortunately, I was able to get into a periodontist quickly and had the offending tooth pulled—the day before my wife and I were leaving on a long overdue trip.

My next “let it go” occurred in the fall when in spite of being fully vaccinated with the latest vaccine, I came down with COVID.  I contracted it at some point on our SibSab in Branson, MO.  At first, I thought I was just suffering from one of my usual sinus infections, but it was my oldest sister who called me three nights after I got home to say she had COVID, and I should test also.  I did and sure enough it was positive within a few minutes.  To make matters worse, not knowing I had it, I had exposed my wife to it and the next day after I tested positive, she did as well.  I felt so guilty for having infected my wife and so defeated having successfully avoided COVID for over three years.

Interestingly, my other two siblings who were on the same trip did not come down with COVID.

At the time of our Branson trip, I was on an antibiotic and steroid to treat the abscessed tooth and I later learned that steroids could reduce your immune system and make you more susceptible to contracting COVID.  Talk about a perfect storm!  If the tooth had not broken and … well no point in going there.

And my last “let it go” event was another serious incident.  Two days before Thanksgiving, my wife was hit broadside while driving home causing her car to spin around nearly 120 degrees before rolling over—twice.  When I got to the scene of the accident, this is what I was confronted with while she was in the back of the ambulance.

Thankfully after more than four hours in the emergency room running numerous tests, they found no internal injuries, and we were able to go home with just a couple of cuts on her leg and some soreness in her back and left arm.

With all these “let it go” events, you’d think I had one of the worst years of my life but there were actually some silver linings to the year.

My wife and I did enjoy some nice trips together one of which was to get to witness our grandson in Seattle make his first communion.

I also had a great BroGo trip with my brother to Detroit as I have posted on recently.

And in spite of the COVID outcome, we had a great SibSab as well.

But on the whole, my hope is that 2024 will be a much better year and given it’s an even number, that is at least a start.

So, goodbye to 2023 and a happy new year welcome to 2024!