Year in Review III

What did I do this year that was notable to me?  Not much but there were a few personally important things that transpired.

I went to Portland, Oregon, to attend a niece's wedding and saw some family members that I haven't seen for several years, like the mother and the brother of the bride, also my sister from Santa Fe, her son and granddaughter, my nephew from Chicago, and my brother who otherwise hasn't spoken to me in years (life's too short for that crap!).  I had two long early-morning runs through Portland, a great town.

I ran a half-marathon in under two hours, my goal.  I dropped a lot of weight, saw several former running buddies that I hadn't seen recently and had lots of good runs with good friends like John, K, R, G, C, H, and Lia.

I visited with John at his new crib, a Class A RV he bought as his new home (he gave up his residence for this lifestyle).  It's fascinating for me to ruminate upon his adventures as "king of the road" as he travels about the country in his domicile, especially as I mull over my own approaching retirement now that I have turned 62.

Personally, I had a chance encounter with my ex-wife in a public setting and utilized the opportunity to ask this mother of my three estranged sons, of whom I haven't received any information about in over seven years, if they were alive and well, but I merely received stony silence from her.  I had to see if she would tell me, the father, even a scintilla of information about our children in person, where she couldn't be evasive as she always is in our infrequent written communications, but regrettably I merely confirmed my worst suspicions about her heartless nature.

Lastly, at about the same time, I received an anonymous comment posted on this very blog that led me to a current picture and recent information about my oldest son, both on the internet, so I can surmise that at least he is alive and apparently well.  Interestingly, I have a friend from childhood who is estranged from his child due to parental alienation syndrome (PAS) in similar circumstances to mine, who confirmed to me that he also fears the mother of his child wouldn't even tell him if something terrible happened to their child.  So the information I received last month from the anonymous source which led me to the first solid information I have had in years about the wellbeing of my oldest child at least, is good news indeed.