2019 has come and gone – the end of a decade. Like every other year, some good and some bad. Things that will be remembered forever. And things that have already been forgotten. I remember a time not so long ago when families included a letter with their Christmas cards to tell of the highs and lows of the year. I had a friend send one this year and it was the exception, not the norm. I thought it would be fun to stroll back through the year before turning to look forward to 2020.

January found me still unemployed, having been laid off from Dimension Data in April 2018. Robert was working in a contract role at Mylan as a Project Manager in the Information Security department. I was contacted by Margherita Ganeri asking me to apply to the Italian Diaspora Studies Writing Workshop being held in Southern Italy in May 2019. I wanted to go but didn’t see how it was possible. I played the what if game a lot. What if I commit to this and don’t get a job? Then I will use up all my savings. What if I commit to this and do get a job? Will they give me the time off? Robert insisted I had to go and that these opportunities don’t come around every day. He offered to pay for the trip if I didn’t have the funds. When I told Margherita my dilemma, she reached out to Sam Patti – a mutual friend – who offered me a partial scholarship to attend the workshop. It seems the universe was conspiring to get me there. I applied and was accepted.

I spent most of January working out with my trainer, trying out the new Bootcamp classes that were being offered at Inpax and looking for a job. I was sent an interesting opening by a recruiter that looked like the job description was written just for me. Then I found out it was with Insight, a company I had worked for previously and left to go to Dimension Data. I had a technical screening with Chad and an interview with Joe. I knew Chad from working at Insight previously. I didn’t know Joe, but he had checked with others who all gave me the thumbs up.

February found me accepting a six month contract to hire position at Insight as a Cisco Collaboration Presales Architect. Unfortunately, during the same time period, Robert found out that his contract with Mylan was not going to renew and would expire in March. Ugh – was it too much to ask that both of us have jobs at the same time?

I enjoyed reconnecting with previous co-workers and catching up on the company and learning about all the new things the company was doing. Meanwhile, Robert was accelerating his job search.

I spent most of March ramping up in the new position, while Robert spent most of March wrapping up his work at Mylan. I spent a lot of time at my dance lessons preparing for Presentation Ball 2019. At the same time, I was trying to get my website developed. I had ideas but did not know how to create the page I was envisioning. I contracted a website developer and he began working on my site. It was so much fun to see him taking my ideas and making them into a reality.

April was a blur of activity – dance lessons, fitness training, preparing for my trip to Italy, and dealing with back doctors, injections that were not working, and back pain and sciatica all the time. My website went live in April and I was able to post a few things to the site to get it started.

May 5th was my 10th Presentation Ball dance performance. I enjoyed the dance tremendously as I had a lot of input, turning some of my defensive tactics skills into dance steps. Dancing to Pink’s song “Trouble” was appropriate as I “beat up” Jimmy throughout the dance.

There was no time to rest after Presentation Ball since I was flying out May 14th for my adventure in Italy. I spent May 14-30th in Italy in a workshop that would change my life and opened up so many new possibilities. Back home, Robert was starting a new six month contract-to-hire position with Mortgage Connect as the Manager of IT Security.

My time in Italy found me living in a refurbished stone house surrounding castle ruins for the first week, a refurbished farmhouse overlooking the Ionian Sea the second week, touring Mt Pollino mountains, small villages, and the World Heritage site of Matera. There we saw cave houses and a beautiful cave church with frescoes on the walls. We toured museums, libraries, and Greek ruins. We shared readings, had speakers, and shared meals together. There was even some dancing!

Returning home and to work in June was an adjustment. I quickly found myself wrapped up in meetings and even traveled to Dallas to meet with a customer. While in Dallas, I was able to get together with my cousin Viv, her husband Dave, and their two lovely grandchildren. I also had to say goodbye to my beautiful Chi Chi, who I had the privilege of sharing my house with for 18 years.

The summer sped by with work occupying most of our time. Our friends Charlie and Karen and their three children came to visit at the beginning of August. We had so much fun showing them Pittsburgh. And adult evenings around the firepit once the kids were sent inside for the evening.

I flew out right after that to attend onsite customer meetings in North Carolina. And then on to Phoenix for Insight’s Technical Mastery sessions where I was presenting along with my co-worker Chad. At the same time that all of this was happening, I was offered and accepted a full-time position with Insight as the Manager of the Collaboration Presales Team.

In September, Robert and I decided to both take continuing education classes at Community College of Allegheny County. Robert chose a watercolors class while I opted for a photography class. September and October sped by with both of us working full time, taking classes in the evenings, and me continuing my dance lessons as well.

We started working out at Elite Custom Fitness in July and that is where I found out about a chiropractor in the area who offered decompression therapy for people with back problems. I met with Dr. Gross and after he reviewed my history, Xrays and MRI results, he felt I was a good candidate for the treatment. I was desperate for relief as I had been living on anti-inflammatory and pain medications since April. I began decompression treatments and would receive temporary relief but was back for another treatment within a week. I was assured that as time went on, I would not need such frequent treatments. The relief was making daily tasks easier, helping me work harder during my fitness training, and my dancing improved since I wasn’t constantly losing my balance and falling towards the left side. I continue to visit the chiropractor and the treatments are getting further and further apart with lasting results.

I traveled to San Jose, CA in October for meetings with Cisco. While I was there, I had time to share dinner with my Aunt Patty and cousins Renee, Greg and their son Mitchell. I had a chance to meet my senior management team and others from the company who I had not met face to face before.

In November, Robert and I traveled to Long Island, NY to celebrate his aunt and uncle’s 50th wedding anniversary. It was a beautiful party hosted by them and their children. We got to visit with family that we only see once or twice a year. Our friends Dan and Erica had a get together at their house where Charlie and Karen and their kids joined us. There is always so much talking and laughing and fun when we all get together. We shared food and drink and most importantly time with good people.

Robert’s job with Mortgage Connect converted from contractor to full time employee the Monday before Thanksgiving. Finally, after 30 months we are both full time employees again. On Thanksgiving Day, Robert and I cooked a full Thanksgiving Feast and our friend Janet joined us for dinner and then games. It was an enjoyable day with no stress, no drama and lots of good conversation and laughs.

December brought more bad news on the kitty front. Ariel was diagnosed with late stage gastro-intestinal lymphoma. We only had a week after the diagnoses before we had to say goodbye to her.

Chuck invited Robert to join in with a small group of guys for game night and now they are going to try to get together on a regular basis for game night. I spent most of December baking cookies, planning menus, and preparing for Christmas.

We decided to try something new for Christmas Eve this year and made reservations at Alla Famiglia Italian Restaurant where they were serving the Feast of the Seven Fishes. This was an enjoyable experience where we got to sit with and meet other people and share a meal together.

Robert and I had put out invitations for a get together at our house on Christmas Day and 10 people chose to share a part of their Christmas Day with us. There was food, drink, good conversation, and laughter. Audrey was the first to arrive, visiting with us before she headed to her brother’s house for the family gathering. Suzanne stopped by and visited for an hour or so before she went to help her Mom prepare dinner for the family. Janet was the next to show up and got to visit with Suzanne a little. As Suzanne was getting ready to leave, Rob and Christine showed up. We all settled down in the living room where we were soon joined by Flo, Chuck and Flo’s Mom Virginia. Everyone was enjoying some food, beverages and cookies. Next to arrive was Jimmy – my dance teacher and good friend. He joined the party. Colette came a little later, but not too late to enjoy all the fun conversation. Christine and Rob declared this the Best Christmas ever, which warmed my heart that I could share it with them and everyone else.

My cousin Renee invited Robert and I to lunch at Aunt Patty’s house. They were all home from California for the holidays and we always try to spend time together. I was pleasantly surprised to find that my Dad’s cousin Cookie was joining us as well. Renee cooked dinner and we had a lovely family meal. It was great to spend time with them.

Carol and Merle invited us to dinner as well. We got to see their new home and Carol cooked a hearty winter meal of ham, cabbage and potatoes. We took some crusty bread and a tray of cookies to complete the meal.

We are finishing off the year at Leon and Hela’s for a New Year’s Eve get together. We are all contributing to the meal and drink and will ring in 2020 with friends. I have been fortunate to spend New Year’s Eve with Leon and Hela several times over the last 20 years. The first New Year’s Eve at their house was 1999.

My fondest memories are of the people this year. I made several new friends in Italy, who I keep in touch with through Facebook mostly. When I look back at the past year, there were so many dinners, lunches, and even a tea with friends. It would be impossible to list everyone – Flo and Chuck, Dee and Gil, Lourdes, Christine and Rob, Janet, Eileen, Colette, Audrey, Cubby, Leon and Hela, Steve, Carl, Frank and Lisa, and probably many more that I’m forgetting.

I have come to understand how important it is to surround yourself with good people who you can share time with. People who bring no drama to your life. People who bring good conversations, laughter, and happiness to your life. People who appreciate you for who you are and nothing more. People who are happy to see you, greet you with hugs and kisses, and promises of getting together soon to do it all again.

I am so blessed to have so many good people in my life. Life isn’t about things. It is about the moments that you remember. I will remember 2019 for my trip to Italy, my newfound interest in writing poetry, and all of the many wonderful people who I have had the pleasure of spending time with.

I’m looking forward to 2020.

Happy New Year!