End Times

The time has come for us to say goodbye to another year and hello to the next, which will most surely pass even faster than the last. The folks at Detroit Dilettante (that's just me!) would like to wish my past, present (none!), and future (maybe!) readers a happy, healthy, and prosperous new year! For me and Husband, formerly Fiance, it has been a year of extreme ups and downs. In January Husband lost an uncle much earlier than one should ever have to say goodbye to such a youthful and life-affirming person, then in April his father got sick (somewhat back to normal), and then, if that wasn't enough, Husband ended up in the ER with chest pain in May, which we honestly now think was extreme anxiety from the previous 5 months of family trauma.

The upside of this year came when Husband received a clean bill of health and then in October...married me! It was a perfect ceremony and a nearly perfect reception (what am I bitchin' and moanin' about? well, lame and insignificant stuff...weather suddenly turned very cold for day-of, band was a bit clueless about wedding pacing and etiquette though great at what they are actually paid to do, bartender was a bit of a dud). The food was great, location beautiful, the company the greatest, and everyone travelled to and from northern Michigan safely, thankfully!

The best thing was having all our friends and family together in one spectacularly beautiful place! There were a few key people missing, but they were there in spirit, I felt the love!

And now, a few months later, the best thing of all is to look at the pictures and marvel over how great my friends and family are (new and pre-existing), how wonderful that everyone is in good health and still flourishing despite the grueling journey to northern Michigan in autumn, and to realize how the silly little "problems" with the wedding fade as time passes and only the good stays lodged in this heart and mind. I cannot imagine a life better than the one I have, with its problems shared amongst an incredibly supportive cast of family and friends, and solutions coming from the grace of God/Buddha/the good earth! My only wish that I cannot accomplish alone this year (through my own grit and determination, to differentiate from other wishes/resolutions which require only my efforts) is that my circle of friends and family should expand to include usually silent neighbors, people who Husband and I should meet for reasons of fate (??), and those in need of whatever help I can offer, who I hope can make themselves known to a sometimes-blogger who thinks she understands much of what goes on in the world, but is probably more often than not guilty of living in a cloud of dreams...though with beautiful clouds come beautiful rainbows. Happy 2011!