When he writes, he feels quite a bit better about the whole thing.
About 30 seconds before “Auld Ang Syne” played, I exited the church where the dance was. I didn’t want the reminder that, again for the 3rd year in row, I was not going to kiss some beautiful woman who I loved. Truth is, it’s one of the few traditions I abide with.
Not having someone to kiss at that moment, when it’s expected, reminds me of something. It reminds me that I can expect to NOT kiss some beautiful woman in the near future. This fact does not transmit happiness to my heart. So, I leave the building. Fortunately, 2009, with or without a woman by my side, was amazing–particularly Thanksgiving in Chicago.
My middle brother, Josh Selsby and his beautiful wife, Erin Selsby, had a sweet but active baby girl, Carley Taylor, on July 7th, 2009. The summer was even brighter for that news. My step dad, Errol, was beaming for at least 3 months after her birth. Every time I talked to him, he would bring that beautiful little girl up. I finally got to meet Josh and Erin’s daughter at Thanksgiving in Chicago. She was very well-behaved at our public dinners. According to my brother and sister-in-law, she DID NOT act to that accord in the hotel room at nap and bed time. All the same, they kept a cheerful countenance and presence. I don’t know if I could ever capture, with words or pictures, the kind and amount of love I saw in their eyes for that child; it is a marvel that better understood when personally beheld.
Of course, Molly Selsby, baby brother Adam’s wife, made a meal that further lined Thanksgiving with the silver of culinary mastery and artistry. I have never eaten Thanksgiving food that tasted like the gourmet food pictures look in magazines. My assessment: Molly’s genius made rutabagas and parsnips delicious. Additionally, I think there was about 3 desserts after the 110 course-a-copia she put on. Her father, Bill Pomietlasz, helped out quite a bit: running and being the second pair of nostrils and eyes to assist her.
Her little brother, John Pomietlasz, wrote more extensively about her food and the other delicacies he consumed at saintcleveland.com. Conversing with him and reading his reading was both stimulating and humbling. His verbal voice demonstrates eloquence, simplicity, and calm readability. The rest of the family’s company, conversation and general friendliness was a well-needed bring from my usual life of academic rigors.
Considering my academic life, I did incredibly well in school in 2009. I could go on to describe all the different accomplishments my efforts, work and achievements afforded me. Instead I will thank a few people for being there along way to encourage and support me at regular intervals. Thanks to: Randy, Hunter, and Elsie Miyan, Errol and Linda Selsby, Joshua and Adam Selsby, David Selsby, Lee Williams, Anne Tull, Kari Solomon, Chad Lapp, James Van Mil, Jeff Crawford, William Lindesmith, Robin Goad, Tyler Games, Tate Seimer, Rob Horton, Randolf Lewis, Gary and Barbara Cummins, Kristin Johnson; Professors Stanley Corkin, William Godshalk, Jennifer Glaser, Russel Durst, Evan Griffin, Jonathan Kamholtz, Sheri Allen, and Tamar Heller; and Jaye (Jessica) Kosman. Without these people being there to share in the joys and travails that academic writing has brought me; it would have been meaningless.
When I started out this entry, I had no one to kiss at midnight; January 1st, 2010. Instead, I have many people in my life who impact me daily by their presence or what they do for others. I wonder if the guy or girl who had lips to meet at midnight can say the same?
Garrett J. Cummins 