Sunday, December 31, 2017

at the end of the storm there's a golden sky

Life is fragile, life is brief, our stay is unpredictable....
 
You see, I met Jerry nineteen years ago tonight... New Year's Eve 1998.  Little did I know then that he would become my life partner, that we would have 18 beautiful years together, or that one day -- 9/9/17, to be precise – I would be holding his hands as his sweet, loving heart would beat for the final time.
 
Until that last day of 1998, I had always found New Year's Eve to be a sad holiday, not a reason to celebrate.  It was like, here we go, another year shot to hell.  But after that it became an anniversary – the beginning of our life together – and something worth celebrating.
 
Now here I am at New Year's Eve 2017 and feel some awkward relief that this dreadful year of 2017, a year of illness and death and heartbreak, will be nevermore.  The saga of the year 2018 isn't written yet, but I feel compelled to have hope in my heart that not all future years will be as dark, for me at least, as this one has been.
 
Life is fragile, life is brief, our stay is unpredictable.... As the New Year begins, hug everyone you love.  Hug everyone you even like.  None of this is forever, but pieces of the temporary can be so beautiful.
 
Happy New Year.
 
*****
On a lighter note:  One of my old blog posts, remembering what happened on the first "anniversary" that Jerry and I had, 12/31/99, Y2K Eve -- a story that only could have happened to Jerry --
 
 
and a follow-up --
 
 
And a postscript:  Several years later, Jerry and I flew to Cologne, Germany for Jana's wedding, where we were known to the other guests as "the note in the bottle guys".  These wonderful folks will be friends forever.  Life sometimes redeems itself unexpectedly.  Watch for it.

 

3 comments:

sly said...

a great story my friend hoping the new year brings you happinesss an joy you will be always my friend

Anonymous said...

Happy New Year's Howard. Wishing you better 2018. I miss you
AP

Anonymous said...

Beautifully written. Thank you for sharing your intimate truths. Your stories give me hope for the coming year, too. I remember Jerry telling me the amazing “message in a bottle” story. The two of you shared a charmed life adventure. You are so loved, Howard. Lu