2009 has come to an end. Frankly, it was a very good year overall for me and my family. I was able to accomplish my Bachelor's degree, my son graduated from college and moved on to graduate school, and my daughter finished her first year of pre-medical school. In baseball, 3 out of 10 is considered one hell of an average, but 3 out of 3..!?!?!?! I'd say that is pretty good. People often commend me on my kids, and sure, it seems easy now….but it was not. Consider that in order to ensure a healthy family environment, I gave up what seemed pretty good job positions to be able to spend as much time on my family as possible. I had to adjust my work life often, and thank God for being a nurse that I was able to do so. I was lucky - in a lot of ways. I pushed them hard early on, avoiding the pitfalls that come to a typical working class family. The girls were easier because of their very nature. They are easier to handle, especially when their mother helps out - a lot. The boy was a different story. Keeping him out of trouble meant daily baseball practices and games, even during summer. There was not a day without some form of activity. They say an idle mind is the devil's playground, and I tend to agree. It meant working night shift, so that I could take them back and forth to school. And life is about giving up something for something else. The trick is to know which thing to give up for what else. Everybody has different values and priorities, and as life has moved on, so have my priorities. During my early marriage years, it was make money and be successful financially, for my family. As I grew older, the growing family became my priority. Family was first, followed by everything else.
It didn't hurt to have a great wife. Here is where I feel I got really lucky. They don't come any better than her, and I am truly blessed by this. I always felt I'd land a great sidekick, and patience paid off. But destiny was probably already written. My future wife lived nearly 4 blocks from my high school era home, her oldest brother was friends with my brother, and her entire siblings, including her, attended the same high school I did. Her family is the greatest family I have ever met, and she was brought up the way I had imagined her to be. If that's not destiny, then call it karma. It's the same thing, different phrase. I was born at the right time, came to this country at the right age, attended the right high school, and met the people I was supposed to meet. There is greater argument for destiny than my life, looking back. Now I'm reaping the fruits of the hard work. Life is meaningful and very few regrets remain. Had I changed the course of my timeline, I would not be here telling this story the way I am telling it now.