I think we’ve coverd the bad, and the ugly for this year.

After this post, I’ll have two more – one from my sister on the celebrities who’ve died this year, and one from Vox on the political stories and the end of year summaries. There will possibly be one last post right on the cusp of 2017 or very close to it, and then…it’s a new year! A happy one to all of you. Be creative. Be kind. Be you.
Here are some of the good that happened for me and my family in 2016:

Writing groups.

Blog Constancy and Consistency.

Liturgies.

Retreats.

Pilgrimage.

The Jubilee of the Year of Mercy and our parish’s Holy Door.

Movies – The Force Awakens, Deadpool, Triple 9, Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice, Captain America: Civil War, Star Trek Beyond, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, For the Love of Spock (on Netflix), 28 Days Later (on DVD), Suicide Squad and Sully (both from Redbox).

Books – Alexander Hamilton by Ron Chernow, Washington: A Life by Ron Chernow, John Marshall: The Chief Justice who Saved the Nation by Horace Giles Unger, Yes, Please by Amy Poehler, Laudato Si by Pope Francis, Personal Memoirs of Ulysses S. Grant, Vol. I & II, Michelle Obama: A Life by Peter Slevin, World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War by Max Brooks, My Life with the Saints by James Martin, SJ, and several others.

My parish’s Morning of Service

Red Hat Lunches

Free Ribs

Free Comic Book Day

Meeting my son’s girlfriend

Visiting the Schuyler Mansion, Grant Cottage, and the Vietnam Memorial Moving Wall

Hamilton and Lin-Manuel Miranda. I didn’t see the musical, but I listened to the music.

Gishwhes

Inspiration

Seeing our friends. Attending my nephew’s Eagle Scout Court of Honor, our friends’ daughter’s Bat Mitzvah

Niagara Falls

Applepicking

Anointing Mass

Living Rosary – I participated for the first time

Being a journalist for Halloween

My 50th birthday

Our tour of the Star Trek Original Series set in Ticonderoga

Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols

A great Doctor Who Christmas special