Column Chronicles: Farewell fine annum

Farewell fine annum

Frank Cotolo
December 20, 2018

The following is a speech I have given to people of all ages in a few small towns across North America as an homage to the passing year.

That's it for 2018. Its time has run out.

Now what? First, we look back over the 12 months just passed and we realize we have forgotten so much of what happened in the world, no less how it affected or did not affect us individually or as a member of mankind. Some of us will recall only the good things, being subjective and selective, which is totally unfair to reality. But memories are strange that way (and in other ways) because they tend to steer clear of misery, which, let's face it, dominates life.

This past year, like all past years, will be gone soon and it is useless to debate that fact, which like all facts, is true, miserable or not as that may be to the young, the middle aged and the older. We all become melancholy when a year ends because it is the anniversary of so many things, all gone, some peculiar, some recognizable, some pertinent and some meaningless.

However, they were all part of our lives and things like that will happen again and again because life is a series of happenings in the light of day and the dark of night and in the dreams we have when we sleep and when we are awake.

Still, we have much to learn from what we have done, even if we have done nothing to help mankind, no less a friend or a pet. The time spent is much like the time we will spend in the time that is now upon us, including a new year of seasons that we will pass through if we don't pass away. During the times to come we will notice that some are much like the times that have gone, recent times, like the year before the new year. When we notice such times we have to stop, look at the flowers and smell them, perhaps taste them because we have taken for granted that their fragrances are all they offer. I say don't be afraid to lick the pedals of the budding flower, perhaps chew on them a bit, and think to yourself that you didn't do such a thing last year. No, you did not.

The year that has gone is filled with memories but good or bad they will be placed in your brain and either help you learn or not help you at all. Some memories from last year may actually hurt you to remember. Try to forget them, unless you can learn from them and remember them with the knowledge that bad things can create good things, which is a concept I hardly understand but I am told you should give it a shot.

My advice to all of you, young, middle aged and old, is to move on with your lives and don't be bitter about anything you have left behind because bitterness is like a rag doll being dragged through the street because its threads are hopelessly caught in the fender of an old automobile. Cut those threads with your mind and look to the future.

I say, farewell fine annum.

Frank Cotolo can be found hosting the talk and interview programme Cotolo Chronicles. You can send him an e-mail at this address: frank@148.ca.