Looking Back

 Okay, I know that I promised to push all that 2022 business in the attic and try to forget about it. But then a good friend and constant reader challenged me to shine a light on all the things that last year had to offer that were not incredibly bad. 

I would like to start with the trip that my younger brother and I took to Colorado together back in October. It was not an easy time. We were preparing to move my mother out of her house and into assisted care. My older brother had done most of the groundwork, and his two younger brothers were there to help sort out some of the personal effects and talk about what would happen next. Spoiler alert: my mom didn't stick around to see too much of the rest of that movie. But the two days I spent with my younger brother driving cross country with an SUV filled with memories will live forever alongside some of the great bonding moments of my life. The cookie jar and the coffee table made it to California in one piece, and the hours we spent on the road flew by because we never had to search for something about which we could talk. That happened. In 2022. 

And then there was the Red Wave that never happened. In spite of all the worry and the attendant traditions, the voters came out and chose candidates they felt would do the best job. Having a twice-impeached former game show host lurking in the shadows behind your campaign turned out to be a bad thing, bucking a trend that had been confounding rational humans for more than half a decade. Things do not have to go from bad to worse as a matter of principle. Sometimes they just need to be jostled a little into action, and watch the results reflect the country in which we all live. 

There are many more moments like this in 2022, and I hope to return to them now and again to remind myself of the opportunities that exist for salvation on this zany planet. Like the moment last week when kickboxer Andrew Tate took to social media to ask Greta Thunberg for her email address "so I can send a complete list of my car collection and their respective enormous emissions.” Greta's response was just a tad off color and sufficient to put career "success coach" and misogynist Tate in his place. Not to be outdone, Mister Tate took some time to compose a video in which he attempted to reclaim his machismo. And somewhere in the clip, a couple of pizzas were delivered. The address of the pizzeria was visible on the boxes, which allowed Romanian authorities to show up soon after and arrest him. Apparently Andrew Tate was hiding out in Romania attempting to avoid capture on sex-trafficking charges. 

Thanks, Greta. You made 2022 finish off with a smile.