Huckleberries Online

DM: Trying 2009 Ending Sweetly

Posted by DFO

Dec. 17, 2009 1:20 p.m. • 8 comments

Regular readers of this blog may be aware that this year brought pain with it to my family - deep pain. Today, however, a great measure of joy was delivered to our mailbox, postmarked December 11th, 2009. My son, Colin, is a Senior in High School and long ago set his sights on attending the United States Military Academy at West Point - I think he began his planning when he was 7 years old. He attended my 20th class reunion with me, visited the Academy on a few family vacations and - on his own - spent a week at West Point last Summer - with the Student Leadership Seminar program. Well, today he received a letter from U.S. Sen. Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, nominating him to West Point/Dennis Mansfield. More here.

Question: As many of you know, Dennis lost a son earlier this year. The news he and the rest of the family received today is a nice ending to a bittersweet year. How has your year gone? Sweet? Sour? Bittersweet?

Eight comments on this post so far. Add yours!

Sisyphus on December 17 at 1:36 p.m.
That’s great news for Dennis.

This has been without a doubt the worst year I’ve ever experienced. I keep picking myself up and dusting myself off. But any reflection on it brings much cringing and sadness. Nothing is solved through self pity. So I avoid reflection and dwell on all the positive things I have around me. And I also take measure in folks who’ve had real hardship like Dennis losing his son and the courage of those Hucksters going through chemo and other debilitating illnesses. Those are my heroes. Things can always be worse.
MikeK on December 17 at 1:49 p.m.
Congratulations Dennis and Colin. I grew up very close to the USMA at West Point and for a time harbored dreams of going there myself. The people that do are special and you should both be proud of the accomplishment.
Frum Helen Back on December 17 at 2:58 p.m.
This has been a very painful year for me. I’m so grateful they’re not all like this one.
kamm on December 17 at 3:08 p.m.
In January, my baby sister (49) and my older brother (67) were diagnosed with end stage cancers within days of each other 1500 miles apart. None of us had ever had a serious illness and this was devastating to all.

With a lot of prayers and good treatments they have experienced a great big family reunion-there are nine of us- many mini reunions, connecting with family and friends and saying all their goodbyes-with and without tears.

We approach the next year with gratitude and hope since they have both outlived their initial prognosises, but also with a sense of impending doom that this monster will rob us of two wonderful gifts.
jazzyvandal on December 17 at 3:11 p.m.
Congrats to Dennis and his son. What a great honor!

I would say this year has been the hardest for me personally. Two deaths in the family due to cancer, another family member suffering from pancreatic cancer, being underemployed and unemployed, trying to make ends meet, and sometimes feeling hopeless. I know I”m not the only one struggling out there. Some have it much worse than I do. I keep getting up in the morning and hoping things will get better.
Arpie on December 17 at 3:12 p.m.
I too congartulate Dennis and his son. The tradition of our military acadamies is one of the great things about our country. Truly the best and the brightest are chosen to attend.
JeanieSpokane on December 17 at 3:52 p.m.
I have followed Dennis since the death of his son - and am pleased with this great news about his other son.

Many know here how this year has been for me - ups and downs, trials, soul searching, dealing with pretty serious health problems, but also benefiting from the amazing healing power of friends without faces, prayers from far and near, and the literal help through dialysis - to feeling absolutely totally healthy. I go to dialysis, skipping along, and I will sit there thinking, boy, I feel too good to even be here. For now, the best thing to happen to me was to lose my job - I can focus on ME now and move forward. Yes - it has been a bittersweet year - but it ends on a sweet note for sure.
hmoffsuite on December 17 at 4:02 p.m.
Sis >> “This has been without a doubt the worst year I’ve ever experienced.”

I think that a lot of people would agree with you on that statement. This has been a very trying year for many of us. This economy thing hasn’t left anybody untouched and the stress associated with it is damaging to one’s health. And, aging comes into play as well. Sometimes just being ‘OK’, is ‘OK’. :~)

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D.F. Oliveria is a columnist and blogger for The Spokesman-Review. Huckleberries Online was judged the best 2008 Idaho newspaper blog by the Idaho Press Club. And the best 2007 news blog in the Pacific Northwest by the Society for Professional Journalist. Print Huckleberries is a past winner of the Herb Caen Memorial Column contest by the National Association of Newspaper Columnists. The Readership Institute of Northwestern University cited this blog as a good example of online community journalism.