It’s that time of season. The close of one year and the start of another.

When I lived in Texas, dad would take me, along with my sister, to the House of Pies around Christmas time. Just the three of us. It was a tradition of ours. We’d order the sweetest thing on the menu, some hot chocolate and recall the past year. Accomplishments. Changes. Goals for the future. And with a sparkle and a gleam in his eye, the pride emanating from him wrapped us in the warmest of blankets.

Those were special times.

A closing of a chapter as we picked up another book to begin. Pages unwritten.

So, Dad, even though you are far away, I sit here with my hot chai tea and chocolate chip cookie pondering reflections of the last 12 months along with aspirations for the coming days. I’m going to shoot for the moon. I’m calling upon a storm. And I’m gonna reach for the stars (because stars don’t fall out of the sky – according to Ritchie Valens)!