Go F**K yourself, 2008

I'll be glad to see 2008 leave.

Before this year, I'd been pretty fortunate not having lost any immediate family members - that all changed in September as I was about to walk out the door to head to a high school football game and received a call from my dad. My aunt, a Forest Service Law Enforcement Officer, had been killed in the line of duty. The next two weeks were the worst of my life. My dad was a wreck. My grandpa was devastated. My uncle lost a wife. My 15-year old cousin lost her mother. And the guy was a piece of shit drug addict who had a warrant out for his arrest and killed my aunt simply because she had pulled him over for driving without a license plate and he didn't want to go back to jail.

So yeah, I'll be happy to see 2008 in the rearview mirror.

My thoughts are with your family BYH

 

i was afraid i was being too honest.

and yeah, i'm guessing he probably will tell me to go fuck myself ... just because.

 

Wallace,

My condolences.

BYH,

Best of luck to you and especially your mom. I hope she gets well soon.

 

Beej:

Hang in there, buddy.

 

Man, amigo, I had no idea. To me, your mom had always been a comedy bit[/insidejoke], but this is so serious beyond words. Be strong, but let yourself have moments of catharsis. And you can talk to me anytime.

 

BYH, I'm sorry to hear you had such a rough time. If misery loves company, 2008 was the year for it. I know on a macro scale (economy, et al), things sucked, but I've never known so many people, including myself, to have had as many personal miseries pile up. One friend of mine pledged on her Facebook page to have only positive updates in 2009 because 2008's were so negative. Along those lines, the biggest hope I hear out there is that 2009 can't possibly be as bad or worse as this year.

Can it?

 

My sympathies are with you and your family, BYH. Cherish every moment you have with your mom, and I hope she wins this battle. I lost my mom this year, leaving me without both parents in my mid-30s, so 2009 can't get here soon enough for me either. I really hope things start looking up for everybody around here (especially those still in this business).

 

Man, I can't say properly how sorry I am for you. Having lost someone in a similar manner, my uncle worked around a lot of asbestos in a shipyard with the inevitable results later in life, I completely empathise.

I don't know what I would do without my mother, and can only hope the 25 percenter comes through for you. Hey, it's got to turn out well for a quarter of people in this spot, right?

My best wishes to you and your family.

 

Thanks, everyone, for your kind words and thoughts and PMs.

I was unsure about making the post, b/c I know I'm not the only one having a bad year and I know that 1994 (my favorite year) was somebody's worst year. Despite my bloated post total and the industry-wide running joke about my sexual stamina, or lack thereof, I don't think everything in my life should be posted about here.

But Monday was a really bad day, and writing the post (and watching the Goo Goo Dolls video) was cathartic and helped me sift thru some emotions I hadn't yet been able to decipher. I thank you all for allowing me the indulgence.

My wife and I just got back from dinner, a few friends are stopping by and I'm drinking my first beers in a really long time. So for a little while, at least, we'll smile, kick 2008 in the nuts on its way out the door and hope better days are ahead.

Being a part of this community is one of the best things about this, or any other, year. Happy New Year, everyone.

 

It's going to be a great year, BYH.

 

Fuck you very much, 2008.