Reflection 2023

Looking back on the past year with excitement and consternation. I am blessed and fortunate nevertheless.  

Rainy Day Janie (2024 Edition). Last year I overwhelmed her with a laundry list of lovable traits. I couldn’t help myself since we reconnected in a genuine way (nearly fifty years after our first date – a hay ride). I said that I love rainy-day Janie and the one that smiles in the sunshine. That’s still true. The nature of my attraction to her remains inexplicable. She remains a puzzle I cannot quite solve. But still it seems worth trying.The hometown girl went to college at Case Western Reserve University. She had a laser focus on a nursing career. I always had the idea that I could follow my father’s footsteps and pursue a career that could be found somewhere where Art meets Commerce.

The road less traveled by - Meanwhile my charmed life paid dividends at the University of Miami. Her path and mine diverged, in spite of what seemed a natural bond.   

Bing. Meanwhile, my wife-to-be played it perfectly. She was there for me at a critical turning point in my life. Before her untimely passing almost two years ago we shared our lives together for 41 years. Memory of her reminds me of just how important NOW can be. I was determined to prove myself a genuine advertising man. Armed with an MBA in 1982. No regrets. My choices were mostly joyful and include the arrival of wonderful children and there children (a girl and a boy and grandsons from each). 

 

Upon reflection. I feel optimism and good fortune in spite of sadness.

My life is episodic. And that recognition firms my resolve to stay focused on the moment. In so doing, the moments are fantastic. Music. Art. Friends. Learners. There is a sense of urgency in wonderful, ordinary, joyful things.

Captions:

The Saint Louis Basilica at the Christmas Eve Vigil on December 24, 2023

Holiday Card features me, lost in the field of sunflowers, my kids and the matriarch, spouces and grandchildren. (6 1/2  and 7 years)

At Blue Strawberry the incomparable Kat Edmonson

Dave Shogren and various bandmates from Mudd Brothers to Benbow City Shuffle (BCS)

Troy, Illionois Red Door Cottage before candle-making with teachers Julie, Kathy, Kelly and significant others. 

Dave Cox in his Hillboro, MO kitchen (Danielle and Adam are engaged)