Well, it's 10:15pm New Year's Eve as I begin this jaunt back 366 days (thanks February 29th)....there will be no "specific" format to my year in review, it'll be streaming thought, which, for anyone who knows me, understands that that concept could be significantly dangerous. :)
EVENT OF THE YEAR: There's no comparison. As of this writing, as many people have died due to the earthquake and subsequent tsunamis in Southeast Asia than would have died in fifty 9/11's. Fifty of them. I'm not comparing the two events at all, just helping myself still, after almost a week, try to grasp the enormity of it all. And to think there are those with no heart taking this event to make political potshots against our country and our president. Even Bush's opponents in the U.S. should be appalled. God bless the survivors.
Honorable Mention: 2004 Election, Advent of Bloggers, Russia School Terrorist Nightmare, Florida: Hurricane Alley
SPORTS EVENT OF THE YEAR: I am not a Boston Red Sox fan, but I was one for two weeks in October. You see, my dad has loved the Sox since his childhood, and saw Ted Williams hit a home run in Fenway Park many years ago. Since his aneurysm 20 years ago, his interest in sports has basically disappeared, so I don't even know if he followed or cared the Red Sox's magical ride, but I caught part of the wave, and for me, personally, the following call goes down in broadcast history with "Do you believe in miracles?" and "The Giants win the pennant!"
Joe Buck: "Back to Foulke. Red Sox have longed to hear it. The Boston Red Sox are World Champions."
I still get chills when I watch the video online. Eight wins in a row, including a 3-0 comeback against the team you lose to every time, a sweep in the World Series. No one in Hollywood had this one on the drawing table.
Honorable Mention: Incredible Super Bowl 4th Quarter with the Proehl/Vinatieri repeat of 2002 (how weird); Va Tech joins....and wins the ACC; where did hockey go?; the Richmond Braves will not play in August due to water; and the only thing I truly cared about during the Olympics was watching Misty May.
LOCAL EVENT OF THE YEAR: Hands down, Monday August 30th. It began with a "chance of rain, heavy at times, maybe as much as two inches" as the remnants of Tropical Storm Gaston prepared to come through. No one foresaw the hours of 1 to 10pm. 10 to 14 inches of rain, Shockoe Bottom became one huge rapid, and I didn't think I'd get home that night.
Honorable Mention: Sheriff, I mean, Marshall, I mean Mayor-Elect Wilder comes to clean town....the mysterious "booms" of northside, thanks to a teenager....288 finally is completed, so Richmond's "beltway that doesn't connect" is finally finished. ONLY in Richmond.....
RANDOM REMEMBRANCES:
January: USC gets robbed of its national title....Carolina beats the Rams!! Wait, they just beat the Eagles, too!! Carolina in the Super Bowl??....yep, we're gonna do the first ever Silent Auction at Longdale, and the solicitation begins......and I spend one heckuva interesting evening at a packed Echo Lake Elementary School listening to Glen Allen residents plead to the School Board that they not "break up their community" by using Mountain Road as the boundary for the new middle school. They were defeated, and I'm so glad. Two reasons: 1) There's a definite air of superiority among the residents of Mountain Road west of the railroad tracks (I live east of them, therefore I live on, you guessed it, "the wrong side of the tracks"..hee hee...), and 2) they never acknowledged, as I did in a letter that was published in the Times-Dispatch, that their "community" was already being split apart at the elementary level with the building of Greenwood. They all just wanted to be at a new school, which burned me up, because Brookland is a fine school, and brick and mortar doth not a school make.....guess I'll never be elected to the School Board from this district (ha!), not that I'd ever try.
February: What a Super Bowl! (Well, the 2nd half, and thank God I was upstairs, at a friend's house, playing pool with a bunch of kids, during the stupid "wardrobe malfunction")....spent the next two days sick in bed.....finally got the Annual Church Meeting in, only to have it cut short as the snow began falling, and we ended up in a real "snow-storm" around the airport coming home.....Rachel turned 7 where she turned 6, at the bowling alley (Fred and Barney would be so proud)....I went on my final Longdale field trip (w/Rachel's 1st grade class to the Science Museum, where my group of kids were known as "The Dream Team", as we behaved the best and had the most fun.) On a sidenote, I didn't know one of my kids didn't ever do much talking or interaction, and Miss Wright, Rachel's teacher, told me later on that she had never seen him more animated than on the field trip. That's one of the best compliments I've ever received, and I didn't even know I was doing anything at the time. You know, those are the best ones......then there was me, taking a 1/2 day off to see, on opening day, "The Passion of The Christ". When did you start bawling when you saw it? For me, it was when Mary flashed back to Jesus as an eight year old falling, going to get him, and then coming back to reality, knowing she couldn't go rescue her son as He went up the Via Dolorosa. That tore me up. The following Saturday I took a church group to the film.
March: One word: MADNESS!! Gotta have my 5" Black and White TV in the office for some NCAA Tourney action (ACC tournament first, though...)...NC State made it to round two and promptly choked; VCU almost knocked off Wake Forest, and I picked UConn to win it all (I had never picked correctly before.....hmmm);
plus the one year anniversary of the Iraq War, another lost weekend in bed sick (ACC Tournament weekend), and issues at work (what else is new??)
April: UConn wins the National Title (I FINALLY got it right, and won my ESPN fantasy game against 99 other competitors, and was in the 98.6% percentile for the whole game!)
We celebrated Easter (w/more rain, again....), and I missed my absolute favorite service of the year (and I don't even conduct it!), that's Maundy Thursday services at my great buddy Wayne's church. Singing "Ah Holy Jesus" in candlelight after Communion is, well, few things are better than that feeling of awe and reverance.
I had to bow out of preaching the Lenten series there in '04 due to my continual health issues....and that stunk.....The Spring Fling and Silent Auction at Longdale was April 16th and was a great success, as we raised $2500 in our first attempt at an auction. It was LOTS of fun.
--April 29th, Robbie turned 12 by going to school, then an evening of putt-putt and presents. It was a watershed day for me, for many reasons.....
May: I begin May, where else, in bed Saturday May 1st, missing the PTO Yard Sale. The next day was church, followed by our annual pilgrimage for 24 to 48 hours to Virginia Beach in the springtime, before ALL the tourists go down there. Unfortunately, the weather did not cooperate, as I did walk down Atlantic Avenue Sunday night buying food and Diet Mountain Dew to take back to the hotel for dinner, but I never did get to walk on the beach. We watched the first half of the mini-series "10.5" as the kids went night-night. The next day, in the rain, we checkout, get some grub, find a place to park, and RUN in the pouring rain into Flipper McCoy's, the best arcade I've been to in a LONG time......my year-long crusade at Longdale to make sure a new foundation of PTO leadership would arise for the following year came to a reality as a new Board was elected. Six of the seven board members last year were rezoned to the new elementary school (ourselves included). I'm happy to report their PTO is going great guns this year with new ideas and lots of energy and success. You don't know how happy that makes me. :)
Oh, and goodbye to my only two TV faves, 24 and Alias, til January??!!??
June: Some guy named Ken Jennings came on Jeopardy; I picked up his journey at about game 14. A very emotional week began Friday June 4th in the rain and mud of Innsbrook After Hours, where the show did go on. I saw the Moody Blues live for the second time in my life, and had the time of my life; very emotional, very reflective, and pretty wet. The next day, we lost Ronald Reagan. The week of mourning coincided with our final week at Longdale Elementary School. After 7 years as part of that community, we hated to have to go; we loved that place so much. Friday June 11th was our last day at Longdale, and the Reagan funeral, as I bawled watching the sunset burial that night, at his loss, the loss of a community, and the emotions of my new reality.
Then came a defining '04 moment: why, oh why did I go up the street to play softball the night of June 14th??? One swing, one trip (literally) out of the batter's box, one stumble halfway down to first base, one fall on the right shoulder, one severely separated right shoulder. Not being able to contact Bonnie on the phone, I had to drive myself back home so I could "seek medical attention". The absolute worst pain I've ever experienced in my life was when I thought I could use the hurt arm to put my Cougar in gear to leave the ballpark. It's a wonder people in Nova Scotia didn't hear my scream.
Off to Patient First for the night, then an appointment with my new best friend, Dr. Goradia (and his GREAT nurse, Terri), with hopes of natural healing. The family trip (without me, as I had to work) to Virginia Beach was not cancelled, and I spent my 37th birthday alone, going to work, coming home, in a sling, and going to bed at 715pm. Yep, 715. Sleep apnea strikes again. I'm such a party animal!
Then, while visiting some church members two Sundays later, I felt something move up in my shoulder. Sure enough, the bone had come up, and now surgery was mandatory.
July: Happy holiday, consisting of Bonnie's birthday (7/3), complete with a trip to the Diamond for a Braves game and the fireworks that followed (spectacular display, I cried, of course....), the 4th of July, a day off on Monday the 5th, and, to wind up the festivities, surgery on July 9th (Friday). Day surgery, followed by night and next day of hell in bed (what pain!). Out of work 'til the following Wednesday, then, much to Bonnie's dismay, back at it. I look back and still cannot believe I typed with one hand for 10 weeks and didn't fall behind on my work (that's called grace in action!)
August: First week was our "vacation"; travel cut short due to injury....now the family is really tired of taking Daddy to work and picking him up every day. The annual church picnic was very enjoyable, even with one arm, and Vacation Bible School was very successful (you go, Pat!). On August 24th, D-Day at the doctors, and finally, the divorce with the sling. What a weird feeling, but it sure was nice. Then, six days later, Gaston (see earlier in this novel). Oh, and I started a blog.....
September: We begin the new era at Greenwood Elementary; great start, then a grinding halt, as our meeting to determine whether to form our parent-teacher group as a PTA (like Glen Allen) or a PTO (like Longdale) set the stage for a first semester of complete frustration in this department. September 10th saw the return of PH football on the radio, plus POF returned for the 8th season.
Also, thank God for Zell Miller!!! What a speech....:)
October: More PH football, a very politically-charged PTO formation meeting which led to my departure from the process for awhile, the odyssey of the Red Sox, more battles with my illnesses, play practice begins, the debates, and more late nights at work. Also, our almost year-long odyssey at church through "The Purpose-Driven Life" came to an end. We were to go to North Carolina Columbus Day weekend, but my fear of leaving home forced us to cancel, so we treated the kids to Finding Nemo on Ice to help make up for their disappointment. And, on October 28th, a very emotional early morning trip to say happy birthday to Mama at her gravesite in Louisa.
November: Thank God for Ohio; Bush wins. The New York Giants begin their freefall; and I witnessed the greatest high school football game of my life, the Hermitage-Patrick Henry overtime epic. Then, the next week, an absolute travesty, as Henrico County, because of advanced ticket sales for a battle of unbeatens, does not postpone Friday games in spite of monsoon conditions, so PH plays their final game at JR Tucker, and their senior night is ruined. No one, I mean no one, is there, save the teams, those of us in the press box, senior members of the band and cheerleader squad, and their parents, who ruined nice shoes to be honored before the game (players) and at halftime (cheerleaders and band members); oh, and let's remember the empty bleachers which stood and cheered their achievements and dedication to their school. It was an absolute farce.
Thanksgiving was MUCH better this year (my nose didn't hurt!); and play practice continued.
December: My fantasy football team makes the playoffs in POF for the 4th time in 8 years (the previous 3 times, I won the championship), only to lose my first round game (my first playoff loss ever)....to my own wife. By one point. How crushing.
Went through a rough week in early December between my sleep issues and a vicious attack of my OCD symptoms, led me to an abyss I'd never seen before. I'm glad to be out of that funk. We made it through the play, lost a great man of faith in Johnny Oates, enjoyed Christmas, and welcomed in the Carolina relatives for the New Year (Aunt Tammy is playing Uno tonight with Bonnie and the kids, Uncle Frank watched the Peach Bowl and is now asleep on the couch to my right, and I'm blogging.)
THINGS TO REMEMBER 2004....A LIST:
--anything Yu-Gi-Oh
--"hard work" (Bush)
--"I have a plan" (Kerry)
--"spitballs??" (Zell Miller)
--Luke, Rachel's first boyfriend who didn't know he was her boyfriend (did you follow that??)
--"DAD!!" (every time I pull Rachel's leg)
--Howard Dean's scream, I saw it live. What a riot!
--the advent of satellite radio (and how does it affect people like me who work in terrestrial radio)
--"Hold up, hold up, stop the music, stop the music. You better go to I One Mobile and get me a cell phone, or you ain't gonna get none of these goodies tonight. Beliee' dat!"
--Peyton Manning's MasterCard commercial (Cut that meat!!)
--All the roads Gaston washed away....
--the little bell I rang when I needed help after surgery
--Minute Maid Juice Bars
--Donald and the octagonal window
--hitting the 3,000 hour mark on my C-PAP machine
--Kiss-Key-Ak (where you buy things in the center of a mall)
--Blue (our latest fish)
--"are you doin ok?"
--The return of Letterman to our nightly lineup (thanks to no paper route!)
--Waking up to Fox and Friends and not the radio....
--Never making it into our swimming pool this summer...
--the night of May 21st....
--Jib Jab/This Land is Your Land
--being forced to listen to country music against my will at work.
--Wearing shorts all year long
--Blogs
--the attempt to rebuild my music collection (off to a good start!)
--meds in the morning, meds in the evening....
--a summer at Wendy's (Double, plain)
--"yoga man"; what nurse Terri called me as I sat, legs crossed, on the examining table waiting on Dr. Goradia.
--Dr. Goradia also did surgery on Nadia Comaneci (her autographed picture was in his exam room)
--The story of the van that would not fix, and those we drove in its absence.
--Robbie's bike stolen.
--Ken Jennings
--Welcome, NFL Network.
--"Less is More"
--Fat Albert, The Movie
--The Passion of The Christ
And we said goodbye.....
Jack Paar
Captain Kangaroo
Julia Child
Ann Miller
Tug McGraw
Paul Winfield
Sir Peter Ustinov
Alistair Cooke
Pat Tillman
Estee Lauder
Tony Randall
Alan King
Darrell Johnson
Ronald Reagan
Ray Charles
Rick James
Marlon Brando
Red Adair
Fay Wray
Janet Leigh
Rodney Dangerfield
Christopher Reeve
Robert Merrill
Jerry Orbach
Artie Shaw
Reggie White
Johnny Oates
and finally, at 1142pm as my medicine takes effect and I really want to go to sleep.....:)
TOP FIVE EVENTS OF 2004:
5) Gaston's storm, August 30th
4) The Moody Blues Concert, June 4th
3) Saying Goodbye to Longdale, June 11th
2) The shoulder injury, June 14th, and surgery, July 9th
and....
1) My new reality; encompassing where I am healthwise and emotionally, and some very personal issues, one of which came from completely out of the blue; I didn't know the emotions and their gravity were still alive.
So, after three consecutive trying years, from sleep apnea, to Mama's death from cancer; from depression to being overworked; from fear of traveling to feeling ridiculously inferior trying to preach on Sunday, I'm ready for a good year.
Thanks to my family, of course, my friends, especially the gang at work (who I see more than my own family); special thanks to Kim, she's the best and keeps me from going insane, literally. To the bloggers I've met this year, to supportive church members, to my old family at Longdale, and even to enemies, thanks for a very interesting 2004.
What'll be in store in 2005?
--38th birthday
--I promised to preach from Revelation (LOTS of study ahead)
--My 20 (ugh!) year high school reunion
--My 30th anniversary of salvation (November 16th), and baptism (November 30th)
--Maybe another 3000 hours on my machine
--and I really, really, really hope the Moody Blues return and play live with a symphony orchestra. I will NOT miss it! :)
It's almost midnight, so, I leave to drink Mountain Dew (OF COURSE) at midnight, say hello to 2005, and head straight for the CPAP machine.
Happy New Year!
Rob
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