As I sit here in front of a TV watching a bunch of cheetahs read the menu on the Serengeti, I can’t help but to reflect back on what a year it’s  been.

The 20th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks was marked here in the organization in an unexpected manner where we made the decision to welcome Charlie (aka Mag-B the SLab ) into our home.

She’s been a great dog for us, and I hope we’ve been great humans for her.

It’s been a remarkable year since then.

We started having problems with the car during that fall.  It mysteriously wouldn’t hold a charge for very long and our ace mechanic couldn’t figure out the source of the issue.

It would be May before we got that resolved, but there are still occasions where we have to recharge the battery on that thing.

In November, the last of 5 woman who served as a Grandmother to me passed after beating 100 by several years.

And then there was that time in February that Wifey and I got the COVID. 

If that didn’t suck enough, Wifey had to be admitted to the hospital for several days for treatment because of other medical issues.

On the plus side, her time in the hospital revealed a new medical issue that wouldn’t have been found otherwise.

That was resolved in May as well.

Did I mention May?

May 27th was a great day for two good reasons and then a great one to boot.  A new installment in the Star Wars saga and a new Def Leppard album appeared on that day.

More importantly, my grandson was born that day.

That’s right people.  Tharpster is AKA Gramps now.

But then summer came.  

All of the training and experience I had acquired over the last 14 years managing large complicated events with many moving parts in the mutual fund industry were put to the test out here in my own little world outside of the cubicle. 

By June it became evident to me that my next event to manage would involve the ravages of dementia.

While I continue to be purposely vague about that issue, I will offer up the following thoughts on the matter.

Get your estate planning and the estate planning of your loved ones in place.  If we hadn’t have done that a few years ago, the pain and anguish I’m experiencing right not would be multiplied tenfold.

The other thought is this.  Have I been training for the last 14 years to manage this current event, or is this current event more training for a larger event to come?

And then there was the nasty broken leg my son endured during a relationship building exercise at work….

I sure do love that dog.