Happy New Year What makes life worth living

You know what the good thing is about owning your own newspaper? One of many? I can put a photo of my granddaughter on the front page and there is no corporate boss who can say no. Okay, my wife is my boss, but if anything, she’ll ask why didn’t I blow up the photo bigger? When I’m down, I look at my granddaughter, and she puts a smile on my face and lifts my spirits. This photo was taken during the Christmas holidays. The look of innocence in a child’s eyes is something to behold. Everything is interesting. Everything is fun. Life is full of adventure. So forgive my self-indulgence, but this little girl is my first biological grandchild, and now I truly understand the joys of being a grandparent. There is a grandson on the way, and won’t that be fun? I can teach him how to drive people crazy.

So here we all are, another year gone, and a new one just set to begin. I’m thankful that I lasted another year, even though I’m writing this story Monday, Jan. 31, at 12:36 p.m., so there’s still 11.5 hours left remaining on the clock for me to have a heart attack, keel over and die, but aside from the pain in my left arm, and the tightness in my chest, I feel fine (just kidding). As I grow older, though, I do lose friends, and some are very close. Willie Nelson once spoke about that aspect of growing older – losing friends to illness and old age – as being one of the hardest parts of the aging process.

Read the entire story on the e-Edition of our newspaper. http://www.etypeservices.com/Advance%20News%20JournalID455/