Saying Goodbye

           On Tuesdays, the Slices of Life are shared through the Two Writing Teachers blog.  Thanks to Ruth Ayres and Stacey Shubitz, we are able to connect to many lives throughout the year.  

            According to Rainer Maria Rilke, 

               And now welcome the new year, full of things that have never been.  

           It's been quite a year, this year of 2012. The challenges I met were fearsome, and I am proud I did meet them with grit and thoughtfulness, for my husband, my family and for myself.There were as many highs as lows.  I originally chose comfort as my One LIttle Word, yet couldn't manage to keep up with all the prompts given.  I did, however, remember that word, and it gave me something to hold to during all these past months.  

          When I think of comfort,  visions of smiles and hugs from family, friends and strangers appear, and I am attracted to     those images.  Nothing in the world could equal my feelings when someone gives me a        smile or a hug.  I am blessed with a positive attitude, and with a good life.  The following poem by William Wordsworth    appeared by chance.  It speaks to me as many poems do, but especially this one, this night  of saying goodbye to a year like no other.  

     When I think of the tragedies of 2012, I know that I do not know tragedy in the truest sense of the word.  The poem speaks to my own personal life, but also to those touched by terrible acts that happened this year in more than one place, but in my home state of Colorado, too.  My heart goes out to those who lost loved ones this year, yet I also revel in the fact that more than one miracle happened, including that of a friend who became a grandmother for the first time.  A new baby was welcomed into our world!  With faith and hope, he will grow up strong and make a positive difference. I grew stronger because I lived in 2012, but am so happy to greet 2013 and inspired to make another good year.

        For my first reading challenge of the year, I have again signed up at the Gathering Books blog hosted by Myra, Iphigene and Fats (see the tag on the right) for their Award Winning Books reading challenge.

         Happy New Year to all of you readers.  Thank you for your kindnesses all this past year. You are a comfort!

  Splendor In The Grass

What though the radiance
 which was once so bright
 Be now for ever taken from my sight,
 Though nothing can bring back the hour
 Of splendour in the grass,
 of glory in the flower,
 We will grieve not, rather find
 Strength in what remains behind;
 In the primal sympathy
 Which having been must ever be;
 In the soothing thoughts that spring
 Out of human suffering;
 In the faith that looks through death,
 In years that bring the philosophic mind.

I have struggled with the format of this for a long while, & hope you'll be able to read with all the problems.  I don't know what's happened.  

photo credit: Express Monorail via photopin cc