A Look at the Past and Facing the Future

It's been a good year and it has been a rough year.  We got through it together.  Celebrating our 45th anniversary in August is testament that we can get through it all.

Family is always the most important.  We visited my brother and sister-in-law in North Carolina in May, The Trout's brother and sister-in-law in Iowa, and were able to see all the nieces and nephews who live nearby.  We spent time with both daughters and families in Ohio and Wisconsin and time with the grand kids who are growing so quickly.

Three weeks were spent in France and Paris.  We have a great love for the food, wine, people and the magnificent history and sights of France.  We met the most wonderful people in the gités we rented.  Our greatest thrill was meeting Barbara and her husband, Robert, a fellow blogger I have corresponded with for some time.  It is true..when you meet a blogger you have been reading for a while, you are not meeting a stranger.  It is more like connecting with a friend you have known forever.

Then the next adventure....we bought a 26 foot travel trailer so that we could be a little freer in our travels out West.  Unfortunately, my knee was bothering me a lot by this time, so we could not do all we wanted to.  There is always next year.

We had beautiful weather in Montana this year.  A high school friend and his wife stopped by to reconnected after almost 50 years.  The Trout's best fishing buddy and his wife spent time with us at the cabin also.  And then I had the pleasure of meeting another blogger friend; Diana and her husband Pete.  Once again, it was as if we had known each other for years.  What a thrill to finally meet.

After that, things started going a little sour.  The Trout had to have surgery for a small intestine blockage.  We were fortunate to find an excellent surgeon and though he lost a lot of time fishing the trout streams, he was able to recover so that we could start our long trip back to Florida.

My knee has a long history.  It started back in March when we decided to get healthy and work with a trainer at a gym.  I hurt my knee and after several doctor visits, nothing was resolved.  So, I limped all the way through France and when it got worse, saw a doctor in Wisconsin.  No resolve there.  Saw an orthopedic surgeon in Montana who gave me a cortisone shot that was short-lived.  So when we got back home, I finally had a much needed MRI.  Both medial and lateral meniscus in the knee were torn...since March...so I had arthroscopic surgery on December 16.  Hoping this would correct the problem was short-lived again.  It seems the surgery simply aggravated arthritis which I did not know I had, so the pain is still there, but different.  They hope to baby my knee with cortisone injections for a year or two until it will need to be totally replaced.

So, that means we have to be careful with what trips we plan until we have a better idea how I can handle the walking.  Believe me, I can be patient.  I have also let my blog slide by not writing much in the last year.  I hope to improve that in 2012.  That is a definite goal.

Our two daughters and their families came to Florida for Christmas week.  It was the first time in 6 years that we have all been together.  I told the Trout that our quiver was definitely full....all because we fell in love 50 years ago.  The path of life is amazing.   We have been blessed.

Happy New Year to all of you.  May 2012 be healthy and happy, and as we say in German, "Einen Guten Rutsch ins neue Jahr!!"