A few things that I did in 2011

I think the biggest thing I did that made me enjoy this year the most is taking a ride on a gondola through the narrow veiny waterways of Venice, Italy. It was a dream fulfilled. I'm not sure where I got the idea and the desire, or how long I had it. But I know that it was a strong inclination and something that I couldn't shake for years. It was a brief flash of late-night insomnia on a phone conversation with a friend that the words, "let's go to Venice for my birthday" spit out of my mouth and into the atmosphere. Instantly, it took root. "That sounds like fun, let's go!" was the response. The tickets were bought that night, and four months later, we were both sitting in the United Air Executive Club at JFK, eating quiche, drinking champagne and eagerly awaiting our flight to another island in the Mediterranean.

There was a lot of unexpected things I experienced that not only added to the breadth of life events that I gained, but taught me a lot about the kind of person I've become. I was able to enjoy the beauty of being in ones company, and in being in the company of one. Walking through the corridors of ancient cobbled paths stirred within me both fascination and apprehension, and cast a spell of wonder and hesitance and intrigue all under an umbrella of fun. I accomplished a dream and continually pinched myself to make sure I wasn't sleeping.

Between the opulent eye candy of history, the mystery of architectural glory and the continuous time-zones we recognized and celebrated by toasting it with multi-colored cones of gelato, the sights, sounds, textures, tastes and scents of the Queen of the Adriatic was a wonder to behold. I think the best part of this trip for me was the prayer I was able to give, thanking God for allowing me to not only receive a dream of a lifetime, but to also acknowledge my mother and father and my family who has passed in another island 4 continents, 7 time zones and miles and oceans away. I made it there, and I took them with me.

We only turn 40 once, and we never pass this way again, so this trip was definitely something I am not only proud of, but humbled by.