It is fitting that I use one of George Harrison’s best-known songs as the title of this post, for his music has been a great comfort to me, both in the past six months as we’ve struggled with everything that has gone down this past year, and over the past six weeks as we’ve wrestled with how we want to position ourselves for the next ten years and our respective, inevitable retirements and beyond.

There is not much to say for 2016 except that it sucked, and big time. I remember sitting out on the back patio last New Year’s Eve and steeling myself for the coming year, knowing that I would likely lose both my mom and our rabbit Cosmo in the coming year. It made me both fearful and sad. Looking back at that night and what has transpired over these past twelve months, I now know those fears were realized.

So what do I write for this year’s last Goodboys Nation blog post? Clearly things have changed. I’ve changed. And it’s not for the better or the worse. Everything is just different.

I guess I can only speak from where things stand now. My mom passed away in June, and the memories and emotions of that week following her passing are still just as strong as ever. Looking back, she was the glue that held our extended family together, and with her passing things will never be the same.

And losing our rabbit Cosmo has hurt more deeply than even I expected. Given that Cosmo was a part of our lives for the better part of a decade, his passing while we’re in the middle of this very intense time when we’re trying to decide how we want to position ourselves financially for the next ten or twenty years is just another reminder of the inevitable passage of time. I was only 52 and Tracey 44 when Cosmo came into our lives: at that age the moon seemed like a balloon and the future stretched out before us like some great painting yet to be started on some white-washed palette. Nine years later, our current activity is all about our time remaining – wills, trusts, planning for retirement, and the next phase of our lives. Time has become much shorter and much more precious, and life is reduced to the inevitable question of money vs. time, and making sure we don’t run out of one before we run out of the other.

There were so many hopes going into 2016 as far as my golf game was concerned. I’ll never forget that 87 I shot at Lone Tree, but after that events intervened and my game and commitment to it sort of disintegrated. My Goodboys Invitational weekend was a mess, and the rounds I’ve played since have left me at a point where I’m still waiting for the desire just to hit balls, never mind play, returns. The clubs are still in the same box they came back from Massachusetts two months ago, and when I pick them up again remains an open question at this point.

Of course, life goes on and on the plus side of the ledger I can safely write that both Tracey and I still have our health, a roof over our heads, clean water to drink and plenty of food to eat. And we’re still both gainfully employed – things we most definitely don’t take for granted. I get that and appreciate that. But like I say, it’s been a hard year. The hardest year I’ve ever known.

Before calling it another year, I would like to say to all who continue to make Goodboys Nation weblog a part of your daily Internet travels a big “thank you!” for your patronage and comments. We may not always agree politically, but it’s OK as long as we respect (or at least tolerate) one another’s views. To all I can only wish the happiest and healthiest of 2017s. We’ll see what the new year brings: at least as far as far as I’m concerned it can’t be a whole lot worse than 2016 was.

I’m ready for a flip of the calendar, aren’t you? As is custom every year at this time, and more this year than I can remember before, I’m pleased to say, take us outta here, George!