2012
Our 2012 could have been directed by Sergio Leone. Thankfully without the gunfights.
Linda started the year with a job ‘in the bag,’ but the company reorganized and the position evaporated. She was unable to find work for the remainder of the year. I’ve been getting migraines three times a week fairly consistently, and two different prophylactic medications failed to change this.PTSD had reared it’s ugly head as well and the combination kept me out of the workshop more often than not. Linda convinced me that applying for VA disability was not ‘looking for a hand-out’ and we applied for that in March. We’re still waiting to hear back on that.
We’ve barely managed to keep the lights on and a roof over our heads, and that only because of the generous assistance of friends and family.
The thing is, we HAVE been able to keep the lights on and a roof over our heads with the generous assistance of friends and family. I now have health-care through the VA, PTSD is under control and therapy has been very helpful. We started a new diet and a food blog and I lost thirty pounds. We’ve reconnected with old friends and found many new ones. Neither we nor our dogs and cats have gone hungry, sometimes due to the generosity of friends and even strangers. We were able to trade our Pontiac in on favorable terms for a new Fiat 500, which we adore. Payments are lower, insurance costs less and milage is twice as good. Sure, we’ve barely been able to hang onto it, but we have been able to.
Even though my shop-time has been severely curtailed I have reconnected with some of the love of my work. I’ve really gotten into exploring the variety of styles of seax’s and their scabbards. I’ve also helped train some fighters that do Viking-era demos and was able to participate in a demo at the Norse Heritage Museum.
This year one of the finest people that I know and a man that I consider a brother was severely injured while his special operations unit was deployed in Africa. Against all odds and expectations he made a literally miraculous and complete recovery and has returned to duty. Someone up there definitely had his back!
My work with Subutai Corp on The Mongoliad led to Linda and I writing a novella in the Foreworld series, which was published in November. It’s selling well and has received very good reviews. As a consequence I’ve discovered a love for writing fiction and we are nearing completion on our first novel, a heroic fantasy titled, ‘Diaries of a Dwarven Rifleman.’ With a little luck this will be coming out next month. Writing also provides a good distraction from the migraines, so I can remain at least somewhat productive on the days those crop up. Best of all Linda and I have found ways to work together as co-authors, and that we enjoy doing so.
We’ve had to sell some things, including the seax that I had made for myself. This led to a stunning act of generosity that totally made my Christmas. It turns out it was bought by a group of the participants at Sword Buyer’s Guide Forums who returned it to me as a Christmas present. I was speechless, if you can imagine such a thing.
We weren’t always sure that we were going to make it. But through it all we’ve always had the things that we’ve really needed. At least enough to keep going, which is a miracle. Friends, family and the universe have ‘had our back’ throughout. We feel humbled and grateful for the blessings that we have received.
2012 was a rough, stressful, screaming bitch of a year. It was also a wonderful, joyous, incredibly blessed year. Life’s like that. I’m looking forward to 2013.
