Howdy Doo Buckaroos
And how the heck are you?
My apologies for not updating in a couple months. I don’t really have a good excuse, just the struggle of life, well, and the the sad fact that I’m technologically challenged. WordPress “updated”, supposedly to make it easier, however, it just confused the snot out of me. Every time that I’d sit down and start writing, it would glitch or just do something to irritate me and I’d get frustrated!
I planned on doing my usual dedication to St. Patrick’s Day for the March edition, but with the issues with WordPress and just being extremely sad this particular St. Patrick’s Day, I just couldn’t get it done.
Then came April …
This April 23rd marked 6 years since we lost our son Seamus to leukemia. It seems even six years later I’m still struggling with the stages of grief. Anger and denial keep popping up, bargaining with God and so on. I still question why God would take someone as amazing as Seamus, someone who was compassionate and empathic, someone who always chose to do the right thing. And, of course, dealing with my own guilt. Could we have made a different choice? I mean, I thought we looked at all of the options, but I can’t help but to second guess every decision that I made.
Six years later and I still have nightmares. I make different decisions, but the outcome is always the same.
Anyway … I don’t mean to bum you all out, but between WordPress giving me fits and being extremely depressed, it’s been difficult to execute a new feature article.
Such as it is anyway. I mean, when I started the website about 4 years ago, I didn’t have a clear direction, but over the years it’s morphed into a journal/random thoughts or just a conversation we might have in a pub.
And now here we are! May! Just a couple days before my 54th birthday as I write this article. I’m a member of the Mug Club @ Springfield Brewing Company, so I’d like to start there Friday afternoon after work, for at least one mug anyway.
There’s a tradition in my family that the birthday person chooses their birthday dinner. Now, we grew up modestly, so mom cooked your birthday dinner.
I carried that tradition over, but since I do the cooking, I get the short end. I love my wife dearly and she’s the best baker there is, but cooking us not her thing. Her pie crusts though! (That’s not a euphemism).
Anyway … I digress!
This a “Beer Whisperer” article after all, so focus dude!
My rambling aside, the point is that we’ll probably go out for dinner, if for no other reason than to have a few hours away from the MOTHER-IN-LAW, who happens to live with us, as if I needed a reason to drink.
And … Back to the beer. Sort of anyway. I have enjoyed craft beer longer than it was widely known as craft beer. After the loss of my son it helped keep me sane(ish). Not just enjoying the sweet beverage, but the experience surrounding it. The community around craft beer, the people I’ve met due to the love of craft beer. Doing my crazy videos acts as therapy as well as writing, whether it’s on my social media pages or this website. It all helps fight the blues, and ironically, listening to blues helps fight the blues.
So, as we all go through life’s struggles, find what works for you. Therapy, pharmaceuticals, herbal remedies, talking to a good friend or a hobby that helps you through. As hard as it was to finally get this written, the more that I was able to write, the better I felt.
So, once again I thank everyone in the craft beer community just for being who you are.