Every year-end, newspapers, tabloids, and the like publish their top stories of the year. There are usually some natural disasters, politics, crime stories, and other news that are not necessarily the best or good news. Sometimes, when looking back, it seems to almost make the year look worse than it really was. This year, I thought I would do something different by looking at my top events in life and listing the blessings that happened instead of the negative. I wish I had thought about this idea a month or so ago so it’d be published in January. I didn’t, but I don’t want to wait until next year.
The hugest blessing for me in 2024 was having God with me every second of the year. He guided my steps, took care of my needs, and blessed me in too many ways for me to list without leaving something off. He comforted me during my challenges with Charcot-Marie-Tooth (CMT), my heart challenges, and my frustrations with my health. His comfort got me through them.
A huge blessing for me was my wife with me when I was going to have surgery in late 2023, followed by cardiac tests/procedures to understand what is causing and how Atrilfibulation affects me. Having her with me was so incredible that it’s hard to put into words.
I remember waking up from a cardiac procedure and asking, “Where’s my wife? I want my wife. Where is she? I want my wife.” The comfort of her coming into the little waiting room was beyond description. According to the nurse, I wouldn’t let them do anything until they found my wife. I’m not so sure if that’s entirely true, except that I knew I wanted her faster than they were doing it. I am not referring or implying anything negative about the hospital staff, they were excellent.
Believe it or not, another huge blessing this year was recovering from my first surgical procedure. The blessing was that I recovered in my quiet country home, with the natural world near the Blue Ridge Mountains surrounding me instead of suburbia in Northern Virginia.
I could nap whenever I needed to do so or go for a short walk. Also, I got to enjoy watching the deer and foxes cross through the backyard. This was huge for me because I hadn’t had this before, and it honestly helped my recovery improve. I doubt my healing would have been as fast if I still lived in the hustle and bustle of suburbia.
A blessing for me was my friendship with my “grandson.” First, I have no children or have been hiding a kid somewhere. However, a 22-year-old young man and I became friends after finding we had a lot in common. He nicknamed me “Grandpa” because of our age difference, and his grandfathers had passed away. As it turns out, he has some cardiac challenges of his own, so he was able to encourage me during my challenges. It was priceless because I’d never had cardiac challenges so it brought a lot of concerns.
It has been a fun and interesting friendship as I see him growing into an extraordinary man. After not seeing him for three months, I recently got together with him and was amazed at God’s incredible work in his life.
An incredible blessing of a great boss turned great friend now. When I began working right after college, I was blessed with a part-time job in Christian radio. I was thrilled to get the job because I studied mass communications and worked part-time in radio for my college studies. Also, the station was part of the Washington D.C. radio market, so there might eventually be more opportunities.
Though my college professor had told my boss about my disability or the challenges I had, it was never held against me. She became interested in my health and expected me to do the same work as anyone else on staff. I liked that because it was how I wanted to live—and I still do.
After the radio station had changed owners and we all went our separate ways, we caught up again on social media. She is a reader of this blog and a great encourager. I have found this to be such a blessing.
I joined a CMT support group, although this introverted nerd initially didn’t see the need to do so. Since the group met via Zoom only occasionally, I figured I had nothing to lose but an hour or so of my time here and there.
As time passed, I learned that it is comforting to know you are not the oddball out; there are others with CMT. However, I would not wish the disease on anyone and am not happy that others have it. It does help my well-being to be part of this group.
My wife and I took a cruise with the Bill Gaither Homecoming Friends. I wanted to celebrate my 60th birthday and I am still walking by taking the cruise. Due to their age, it would be the last, or close to last, cruise Bill and Gloria Gaither would be hosting to Alaska. Since we had taken one several years ago and immensely enjoyed ourselves, we had to go.
Not only did we have fun together seeing Alaska, but we had nightly concerts of Southern Gospel music and some music events during the day.
When I was younger, my doctor told me I would be wheelchair-bound by age 40. I have been celebrating, since age 55, every five years that I am still walking.
In October, I caught up with a friend I thought would never happen. But it did. One of the hardest things about graduating from college was leaving two friends behind. Ed, Tony, and I had become best friends. It was something I would have liked to have never ended. Come to find out, it didn’t.
I caught up with Ed a few years ago. His lovely wife, who was a great friend in college, too, had passed away. He caught up with me to share the news. My wife and I went to the Celebration of Life service to honor and remember her. After the ceremony, I told Ed that if he wanted to get away for a while to rest from all the stress, he would be welcome to visit us. We wouldn’t have to do anything or could do everything. It would be up to him. Fortunately, he took me up on my offer and came to visit within a few months. After that, we keep up by texting and visiting once a year.
In December 2023, I came home from a dinner date with my lovely wife to find a Facebook notification email from Tony’s wife. At first, I thought, “Oh no, has something happened,” since I hadn’t heard from Tony in thirty-two years. He wasn’t much about keeping in touch, but I knew his wife through social media. She told me Tony was trying to catch up with me. He would be in Washington, D.C., for work and hoped to catch up with me. Needless to say, I was very surprised. We met for lunch and spent a few hours talking.
Fortunately, it didn’t end there. My wife and I were able to fly to Boise, Idaho, to visit Tony and meet his family. Ed drove up from Arkansas. It was an awesome week. We laughed, joked, played games, and put together puzzles. It was the most fun I had had with a group of people in a very long time. Memories of the trip still make me laugh with just a thought.
Thanksgiving and Christmas were celebrated with a friend. After our families passed away, my father-in-law being the last a few years ago, my wife and I started to create our own traditions. This year, for the third time, we were joined for dinner on Thanksgiving and Christmas with a family friend who definitely made the season bright.
Blessings are whatever you think they are, usually a positive moment or event in your life. I am not sharing these blessings to brag or make my life seem great. I learned to focus on the positive aspects of my life so that the negative aspects of CMT aren’t so concerning. After all, some of the pain of the disease and the constant new challenges can be a bit overwhelming. Focusing on and remembering life’s positive moments will make life happier.
