Bittersweet stories

The year is fast approaching its end. It's a year that has had some good moments. Storytelling has been good to me this past year, with some pretty nifty gigs, the most notable perhaps my gig at the grand opening of the T. Denny Sandford Pediatric Center at Mayo Clinic and the final night of the Fringe Festival in Minneapolis, in the show "Storytellers Unleashed."

It's a year that has had far more moments of tears, stress and heartache. The 2007-08 school year was off to a rough start, both professionally and personally. There have been a number of heartaches, particularly the loss of a great friend to many of us, Leanne Johnson. Serving as the President Elect of Northlands Storytelling Network, while one of my great joys, has been a bit scary. We're moving our conference to a new site, a wonderful location, but...change is hard for everyone. It's scary to be the person who will go into the organization's history as the one in charge of that year of change.

It's a year that saw me shed some middle-aged pounds, not always for the right reasons. Those pounds shed because I was out doing a lot of hiking; those are the good ones. The rest came off as a result of the issues of paragraph two.

It's a year that doesn't follow the fairy tale formulas of "happily ever after." It's more the kind of year that follows the mid-life tale formulas of "older but wiser." Said simply, it's been a year of real-life; moments of happiness and joy mixed with the depths of sadness.

We've just passed the shortest day of the year, creeping once again toward the light. May you and yours find that ever brightening light in the days and weeks to come.