The good, the bad and the ugly of 2009.

2009 was a year that was both filled with very happy yet some very sad events. There were many firsts. I have not made a habit of sharing enough of the personal events going on in my life, so this may be a good time to catch up. I will try to spend a bit more time writing about such things. (Call it a New Years resolution.)

Let's recap:

1. Engagements! Some big firsts in our family. First, the engagement of my younger brother, Jeremy, to his girlfriend Ellen. That happened in February. They are set to get married on July 24, 2010. Then who could forget... my engagement to my long time college sweetheart, the love of my life, Emily! :-) Read the full story here. We eventually decided upon May 21, 2011 for our wedding. This way we allow our parents to regain some sanity between weddings!
2. A very sad first for me. I had my first experience with the loss of a grandparent. On July 6th, my grandfather (Jon) passed away. This was after a sudden cardiac arrest after which he held on for 13 days. This is pretty unheard of considering that about 90% of patients who experience this don't even make it to the hospital alive. Sitting through the meetings with the doctors slowly coming to the realization that you are about to loose a loved one, having to disseminate that info to your family, helping carry the casket down the aisle of the church... all things that were much more difficult than I could have ever imagined.
   
3. In April, I marked my first full year with my first real job as a chemist. I have been with Kelly Scientific ever since graduating from RIT. Future outlook looks good.
   
4. To add insult to injury, about 2 weeks after the death of my grandfather, my father lost his job of 19 years with Calspan...
5. ...about a week or two before Christmas, dad got a job! He's a mechanic in an ice cream factory helping to maintain the machinery used to make ice cream. Pretty neat! He was out of work for 6 months but starts again in January of 2010.
6. For the second year in a row, our family went on vacation for a week in the Thousand Islands. A nice break for my parents given the loss of grandpa and my father's job.
7. On that vacation... Emily got the wonderful news that she got a job! A long term substitute teaching job for a year.
   
8. Mom had shoulder surgery... then a nasty sinus infection... then pleurisy... then another cold/sinus infection... then the wrong prescription... then... well, you get the picture. Just one to many health problems. No fun for her.
9. Just a couple weeks before Christmas, our family dog Baily, had to be put to sleep. A pretty difficult thing to do since she was home to provide companionship to my mother while she recovered from surgery and my father while he was out of work.

Lots of these things were pretty difficult firsts... so I am glad to put 2009 behind me and start fresh with 2010.