Ring in the New

New Year's eve, a time of reflection and contemplation. Endings and beginnings. Another year has passed us by, more quickly than we thought possible, with so many changes, both large and small. There have been difficult times, there have been moments of utter contentment. Sorrow and joy intermixed, so that each can be appreciated in comparison with the other. We laugh, we cry, and time inexorably passes.

The year's greatest triumph is nearly invisible to the eye, yet is quite easily discernible in the entries of the blog. Herself has friends. Good friends. It seems almost trivial, since friends are so commonplace for other people - yet for Herself, the cultivating of human bonds beyond the superficial has always been quite a challenge. And so, as the year draws to a close, she and I are forever grateful for the people who have stamped themselves as friends upon her heart.

It is with hopeful hearts full of love for family and for friends, that we look onward, to the blessings and the challenges of the new year.