Now that 2008 is out of here I can sit back and reflect on the year that started off so horrible. January 6, 2008 was when my grandma passed away from a stroke. She was 83 years young at the time of her passing and I miss her to this day. She was the one person who would help you out if you were in trouble or the one person to give a shoulder to cry. She would give you advice and seemed to know everything if you asked. I loved hearing about stories of her childhood and seeing old pictures of her and her parents.  

So you ask "What have you learned in 2008 and how does my grandmas passing fit in?" Well, I learned that even if someone you really love and care about passes away, they are never truly gone. She lives on in her 5 children, 11 grand children and 19 great grand children. Yes, we miss her but at least she isn't suffering. After she passed, well before that too, I found myself wanting to be like her. She never treated anyone with disrespect and always wanted to help people.

Another thing that I recently finally came to realize in 2008 was that the Detroit Lions will never win a Super Bowl while William Clay Ford is the owner. 2008 has got to be the bottom of the barrel for this team. I have never witnessed a team go 0-16 until December 28, 2008. I was laughing during the entire game because it had finally hit me. I am not even sure that my kids will ever see them win a championship.

On a bit of a fun note now, I learned how to make salt dough ornaments with my kids in 2008. We had a blast making ornaments to give as gifts and to hang on our tree. My children loved painting and adding glitter to their ornaments and they even helped clean up the mess. The ornaments looked great and our family loved receiving these very special gifts for Christmas.

Now even though 2008 started out pretty rough for me and my family, it ended on a happy note. We are glad to ring in 2009 and just hope we all can stay happy and healthy for the new year! I am looking forward to learning new things and taking more risks this year, as long as they are safe ones!