Hello and A Happy Beginning of the Holiday Season,

I am reminded of the beginning song from the movie version of the Broadway musical, Rent. Five-hundred-thirty-five-thousand-six-hundred-minutes! As we head into the holidays, we often take the time to reflect on the previous year and what has occurred in our lives. "How do [we] measure a year in the life? It is certainly easy to get caught up in the mundane parts of our existence, to focus on having no focus whatsoever. As the song so aptly puts it: "It’s Time Now - To Sing Out, Though The Story Never Ends; Let’s Celebrate
Remember A Year In The Life Of Friends; Remember the Love; Measure In Love"

It was a year for me to remember the fraility of life, through the loss of two fraternity brothers and the wife of a colleague who all died much too soon. It was a time for me to face my own fragility as I recovered from a serious motorcycle accident.

It was a year to celebrate the learning of new things in the world of the vineyards and to make new and amazing friends at the winery in Marco, Ted, and Julie in particular. It was a time to learn about what is important in life and realize that having a lot of money and power does not happiness create! It was a time to learn about myself and to know that I could love again, and yet to manage that in a way that was positive and safe, which sounds rather conflicting, but for those of you who understand the pieces . . . I think you will agree.

It was a time of some disappointments . . .  not getting promoted, but realizing that the process is what it is and promotion does not make me a better professor. I learned more about my own boundaries and what I am capable of and where I have weaknesses, but most of all being comfortable with both those strengths and limitations. Learning that I am still naïve  or is it idealistic?? I certainly argued for the latter. I guess, in my idealism, I wish the best for my friend, Ann, and her son Camden, but all I can do is pray for that.

I am grateful for some amazing students this semester and I appreciate their hard work. I still have work to do. In the words of Homer Wells, of The Cider House Rules, I need to be of some use. Or of another character, to whom I have been compared (which I still argue is quite strange), my "Gumpian" existance seems to be at the point where Forrest just decided to run, but I hope it is not for three and a half years. To Char, Juli, Ruth, Renee, and Jodi, I would like to express my profound appreciation for your friendship and collegiality. To my D2L guru, thanks for the friendship, the listening ears and the smiles!

Finally to Lydia . . .  as I noted in the foreword of my dissertation: thank you for everything you do! You are amazing. So . . . whether it be destiny or floating like a feather in the breeze, or some of both . . . I’ll keep running and give thanks for the year! The picture was taken in Wyoming on the way back from California this past summer.

Bless you all,

Michael