Another Year Over…a New One Just Begun

Another year over and it’s hard to fathom as we enter 2023. Seems almost like a dream when you consider that this nation of fifty states consisted of only forty-eight when I arrived on the planet back in pre-historic 1956. Things change over time; some we notice, some we don’t.

Now the years are rolling by me
They are rockin’ evenly
I am older than I once was
And younger than I’ll be, that’s not unusual
No it isn’t strange
After changes upon changes
We are more or less the same
After changes we are more or less the same

Paul Simon, The Boxer

I look in the mirror and sometimes I see my grandfather looking back at me. Other times I see those same eyes that first looked out a bedroom window on Harriet Lane in Cumberland RI in wonder at the stars.

The eyes remain the same, the things they’ve seen accumulate.

Each year we will lose some things and gain others. There will be memories we strive to hold onto and those we struggle to forget.

Life, death, joy, sorrow, anger, happiness, satisfaction, disappointment will each, in their turn, visit us. Some will be brief moments, others seemingly endless.

But they will pass as all things do.

In this my 66^th New Year’s day, experience has taught me to expect the changes a new year brings. Some I look forward to, others I dread. But this I know, the inevitability of the passage of time is an irresistible force.

The secret of life is enjoying the passage of time…

James Taylor, Secret of Life

For this new year I wish you the wisdom to understand the changes you face, the opportunity to enjoy those wonderful moments, and the courage to endure those moments that try our souls.

A year from now, when we go about wishing others a Happy New Year for 2024, I hope the memories of the good things far outweighs the bad and that anything, or anyone, you’ve lost will be preserved in those precious memories.

I, for one, look forward to accumulating the memories.

Happy New Year and here’s to many more.