Final Post, 2010

This year was as challenging a year as I've had in all my 61 years.  The highs reached to heaven; the lows just don't seem so low with God on your side.  There were plenty of highs, but I will only mention the top four:

• Lyla Marie Kraay
• Marie's First Communion
• The Hamsa
• Bicycling

Ash Wednesday fell on February 17th this year.  Marie and I attended Mass, and from that day forward, I attended daily Mass through the remainder of the year, and I will continue that practice in 2011 and beyond.  That daily practice has changed me irreversibly for the rest of my life, and I am convinced it has changed me in a positive way.  I only wish it happened sooner, but I remain thankful for the way it is.

Five months later, due in no small part to the influence of Father Greg Wiest, Marie made her First Communion.  I cannot express how special it is when a mature person is moved by God and makes a choice to give her soul to him.  Clearly, Marie made a choice because she wanted to, not because she had to!

I could list hundreds of positive things that happened, but I won't.  I will keep them to myself and hope that you have those things to recall in 2010 as well.  After all, each of us has the choice to remember 2010 through the good things that happened to us or through the not so good.  That is our choice.  I'll remember the good, and leave my 2010 posts with a final, if not rather inconsequential thought ...

In January 2010, I told myself I would ride my bike 2,600 miles, which I believe approximates the distance from New York City to Los Angeles.  After my final 2010 ride this morning, I end the year with 2,725.22 miles on my bike and 22.34 miles in my pool.  In the words of James Brown, "I feel good."