Alright - New Years Eve. Here it is.
I don't usually watch the ball drop, I don't usually go out and celebrate with thousands of people, and I am very much okay with that.
Part of the ritual does, however, include reflecting on the past year. If you have been reading my blog then you know about all of the ups and downs. Tonight I will focus ONLY on the ups of 2014!
I moved into my townhouse. Heavenly suburbia with a yard for Decker, with no stairs to climb, and the most beautiful kitchen I could ever comprehend having on my own.
I learned how to fly a plane. I mean, I LITERALLY flew a plane!! I did not take off and I did not land - but I flew to Bragg Creek and back. I turned, I listened to air traffic control and I adjusted my height according to what I was told. I flew a frickin plane!!
I got to be a part of the Power of Movement (and won a year-long subscription to an amazing yoga website), I was asked to sing for the Crohn's and Colitis Black and Gold Gala, I got to sing for the Crohn's and Colitis Gutsy Walk down in Lethbridge. These fundraisers are always vital. It is so amazing to not only be a part of them but to be directly involved and be able to sing for them.
I got to sing rock music ON STAGE - with a full band. Getting cheers and applause and requests and actually entertaining people! I got to feel like a rockstar!
I read some incredible novels.
I had another incredible year with family and friends, with my puppy, watching my friends start families of their own and to be a part of that.
I had an observant and persistent occupational therapist who finally got me on the list to see an urgent care specialist - which got the ball rolling on everything we have worked on over the last year. Without her help, and the help of a few key health professionals in my corner, I am not sure that I would have survived the summer if I had continued on the path I was headed. That's a pretty significant contribution to getting me on the road to better health management.
There are so many smaller accomplishments and amazing moments that I would literally take all night to write them down and I would still forget some. I want to thank everyone who is in my life, every nurse and paramedic and doctor and hospital staff (including all of those people who keep the hospital clean and running), porters, triage nurses, cab drivers, every friendly person in customer service, checkout men and women, baristas, anyone who gave a smile instead of a grimace, any little do-gooder who waved while driving, or waited for me to cross with a walker in a parking lot, or opened up a parking spot, or held the door open for me... Anyone who made any part of my day a little easier instead of a little harder.
This year has been a hard one, but it has also been incredible.
I still wouldn't want to trade lives.
Not with the people in mine.
And let us not forget the SEAHAWKS WINNING THE SUPERBOWL.
Crossing my fingers we can do it again this year. 💙🏈💚
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Happy New Year