2014: Year in Review

December 30, 2014
Day 244

In 2014, I made this public resolution on January 1st: "I will believe in myself more.  I will trust in the God-given spirit within me, and I will overcome fears and challenges, obstacles and roadblocks.  I will take leaps of faith into the unknown, and find myself growing more than I ever have before.  In 2014, I will transcend, I will dream, I will be.  And I hope you'll be there with me, to journey into the realm of possibility and imagination, where the highest mountains we've ever climbed will be conquered together!"

On January 9th, in the wee hours of the morning, I asked Andy to bring me to the hospital.  There was no evidence it was anything other than bad heartburn, but it scared me nonetheless, and made for a sour start to the new year.

On March 11th, I published my second book, The Papal Visitor, sequel to Book 1: The Uniter.

On April 23rd, I began writing my third book, the last book of the Heaven, Hell, and the Planet In Between series.

On May 1st, I turned 39 and began writing this daily blog.  Today is the 244th consecutive day I've published an entry here.  To date, my blog entries have gotten over 7,000 views.  My most popular blog entry was on November 23rd, called My Buddhist Calling, which has received 131 page views.  My least popular entry was on June 1st, called June's Many Meanings, which got only 2.  (My views aren't counted.)

On June 14th, Andy and I attended the Long Island Pride Parade, and when a small band of sick men with signs walked past, I shouted, "God loves everyone!"  The confrontation that followed was tense and scary, but I was happy to have said my peace in response to their hate, and encouraged them to just get lost and leave everyone alone before I called the police (who were already around the area to protect us).

On June 29th, Andy and I marched in the New York City Pride Parade.  It was Andy's first time marching and my second, and we both had a wonderful time!

From July 18th to July 23rd, Andy and I vacationed in beautiful Colorado.  We stayed with our great friends Isobel and Sam for half the time, and at a hotel in the Rockies the other half.

On July 20th, we made a special trip up to Laramie, Wyoming.  Why such a long drive out of the way for a little town in Wyoming?  Because Laramie is the place a 21-year-old gay man was attacked and left for dead when I was 22 and still coming out of the closet.  Matthew Shepard's story shook me then and always has, and he's become an important character in my book series about heaven.  You can read about our trip to Laramie on my blog entry here.

On August 11th, I learned Robin Williams had committed suicide.  Celebrities we've never met die all the time, and we feel the sadness of it for moments or maybe even hours.  His death shook so many of us for weeks.  I wrote this about Robin: "The smoke of a burned-out candle is not the candle. Tonight, I'm so sad to hear Robin Williams has left us. None of us can understand why people get to the point of taking their own lives, but for those of us who have been directly impacted by suicide, we are all too aware of the unending impact it makes on us. That said, again, the smoke of a burned-out candle is NOT the candle. The entirety of light that still is Robin will shine on forever. We cry for the smoke of this moment, but we know his light shines on."

On August 13th, we found out Andy's Uncle Fai had been rushed to the hospital with a serious and possibly fatal stomach condition. 

From August 23rd to September 1st, I enjoyed a 10-day trip to Ludlow, Vermont, my home away from home.

On October 1st, I was a guest speaker at two classes at Nassau Community College, thanks to the generous invitation from my friend Bill, who teaches there.

On October 10th, my Aunt Nancy died.

On October 12th, Andy's Uncle Fai died.

From October 20th through October 28th, I served on a federal jury in Brooklyn.  Talk about a life experience!  Wow!  Check out my blog during those days to read some of my reflections.

From November 1st to November 30th, I participated in NaNoWriMo, which stands for National Novel Writing Month.  In the month of November, each participant is asked to write 50,000 words of a new novel.  I didn't think it was possible at first, but by month's end, I'd written 60,112 words.

From November 15th to November 17th, Andy and I visited our friends Cherri, Maria, Mark, and Robert in Columbia, Maryland, and made a special visit to Andy's Great Uncle Nilo as well.  Nilo is a celebrated artist whose work still graces the halls of the Pentagon, as well as air force bases worldwide.  We purchased some of his paintings, and if you're at all interested in doing so too, I encourage you to check out his work available for sale on his website.

On December 3rd, I received a new computer via FedEx, my first new computer since 2005.

These are not my only major moments of 2014, but they are the lion's share of them.  Writing these out has been a wonderful exercise for me, and very helpful as I look ahead to resolutions for 2015.