Bye Bye Bye

An old Irish saying says, ~May the road rise up to meet you, may the wind be ever at your back. May the sun shine warm your face and the rain fall softly on your fields. And until we meet again, may God hold you in the hallow of his hands.~ Although we're not going anywhere, 2005 is and there have been many events this past year that have effected us either individually or as a whole. Its these particular events you would either gladly leave behind or keep with your depending on the event or events in question. For the most part, each of us have an event in mind and whether or not you want to keep it is up to you when 2006 ushers in a new beginning.

Politically speaking, 2005 was filled with some very news worthy stories that either made you cry, angry, confused, confrontational, be uplifted, or all of the above. One such tragedy is Hurricane Katrina that caused many people to not only lose their homes but their lives as well. Unfortunately, the immediate response to help was heard but aide arrived a little too late to where the blame game pointed fingers at the Bush Adminstration and to former FEMA director Mike Brown, who will and forever be considered a douche bag. Despite the controversy, we as a nation either welcomed may of the displaced families into our homes or provided them with food, clothing, and/or health related products which were so baldly needed.

For some, most, or all of us who are are sports fans, there were some events that happened that were either disappointing, awe-inspiring, or both. As many of you know, the Chicago White Sox won the 2005 World Series after 88 years, which vindicated them from a scandal where several players were accused of throwing the World Series against the Cincinnati Red back in 1919. On a side not, one of those men accused was baseball legend "Shoeless" Joe Hackson, who even though was acquitted of all criminal charges he received a lifetime ban from playing professional ball. Initially, what happened to them in the past was disappointed but it payed off big in the long run which kind of parallels their color counterparts the Boston Red Sox.

Personally speaking, there are two events that I will always remember and will keep not only in memory but in my heart as well. The first was opening the asylum doors and meeting the kids of Hurricane Katrina which, as said before, was a truly humbling experience. For myself and best friend were given the opportunity to spend several hours with these kids. What we gave back to them, for a few hours anyways, were smiles and laughter which I will never forget as long as I live. The second event was meeting a woman who unknowingly would give me two things back that I thought I lost years ago which were faith and hope in my own heart. As I tip my hat to you, I simply say thank you from the bottom of my heart.

In retrospect, there are many other events that happened in 2005 that touched the lives of many. The deaths of Pat Morita, Peter Jennings, Bob Denver, Johnny Carson, and comedy legend Richard Pryor were people who not only I grew up watching but you as well. Whether its Kanye West telling what he thinks of President Bush on live tv, voting in Iraq, the Tsunami, hurricanes in Florida, Lance Armstrong winning his 7th Tour De France, or Rafael Palmero getting his 3,000 hit but then lying to Congress about using steriods, these were some of the events that happened in 2005. In the end, we can collectively say welcome to 2006, but for 2005 three words come to mind...bye, bye, bye and its a song by Nsync that somewhat reflects this thought.