[Sue]

1. What did you do in 2003 that you'd never done before?
I truly can't think of anything at the moment.

2. Did you keep your new years' resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
I didn't make any resolutions

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
Nope.

4. Did anyone close to you die?
Yes, my father died on April 26th, 2003.

5. What countries did you visit?
None.

6. What would you like to have in 2004 that you lacked in 2003?
A new place located in Florida, preferrably around the Tampa area, but, that's just me.

7. What date from 2003 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
My father's death, April 26th. I received a phone call around 8-8:30 in the morning from my uncle at St. Joseph's Hospital (ok, I guess they changed their name in the past few years or so) telling me something bad happened. I knew it had to do with one of my parents, and I started getting an adrenaline rush out of fear, worry, and concern. He told me my father died that morning, that the staff tried to revive him for an entire hour, but it was too late. It's by far the most shocking moment of my life. This also happened to take place the day after I lost my previous job. What a kicker...

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
I have absolutely no clue.

9. What was your biggest failure?
Hurting someone I love.

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
Just headaches. Nothing abnormal.

11. What was the best thing you bought?
Can't remember.

12. Whose behavior merited celebration?
No one that I can think of off the top of my head.

13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?
Same as #12.

14. Where did most of your money go?
Rent, bills, disability insurance, groceries.

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?
Um... nothing.

16. What song will always remind you of 2003?
Whatever Charlotte Church sang. It was the cd playing in my mother's car on the way to where my father was being buried.

17. Compared to this time last year, are you: happier or sadder?
Definitely sadder. I lost a job, my father died, and I'm still living in Ghettofield (Springfield).

- ii. thinner or fatter?
None a yer damn beeswax!

- iii. richer or poorer?
I's po.

18. What do you wish you'd done more of?
Talked to my father more often.

19. What do you wish you'd done less of?
Work.

20. How will you be spending Christmas?
Working from freakin 10:30am-4pm on Christmas Eve, then working from 7am-3pm in the Emergency Room. ::sigh::

21. Did you fall in love in 2003?
I already am.

22. How many one-night stands?
None.

23. What was your favorite TV program?
Charmed, Sex & the City, Buffy, and Whose Line Is It Anyway.

24. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year?
Not really.

25. What was the best book you read?
Chicken Soup for the Grieving Soul.

26. What was your greatest musical discovery?
Gaia Consort.

27. What did you want and get?
Blank.

28. What did you want and not get?
A move to Florida.

29. What was your favorite film of this year?
Dunno, the movies aren't really on my list of "things I can afford to do often enough where I would have a favorite of it."

30. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
I worked. It was a Wednesday. I celebrated it the following weekend with a yummy cake from Gus and Paul's on Sumner Ave, a huge pizza, and movie rentals galore.

31. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
Better job with more money, but the biggest thing would be for me to still have my father.

32. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2003?
I dunno. I pretty much wear whatever I feel like wearing. I do make sure though that I'm not a fashion faux-pas

33. What kept you sane?
BF and my friends. I guess my job too since it helps me to distract my mind from other things.

34. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
Angelina Jolie. SO beautiful.

35. What political issue stirred you the most?
I. Hate. Politics.

36. Who did you miss?
My mom in Florida, and especially my father.

37. Who was the best new person you met?
Um. I dunno.

38. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2003:
Be happy that you have 2 parents, no matter what your situation is with them. You don't know how quickly your life and feelings change when you've lost one.

39. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year:
The Living Years - Mike and the Mechanics
Every generation blames the one before
And all of their frustrations come beating on your door
I know that I'm a prisoner to all my father held so dear
I know that I'm a hostage to all his hopes and fears
I just wish I could have told him in the Living Years.
Crumpled bits of paper filled with imperfect thought
Stilted conversations, I'm afraid that's all we've got
You say you just don't see it, he says it's perfect sense
You just can't get agreement in this present tense
We all talk a different language, talking in defense.
Say it loud, say it clear
You can listen as well as you hear
It's too late when we die
To admit we don't see eye to eye.
So we open up a quarrel between the present and the past
We only sacrifice the future, it's the bitterness that lasts
So don't yield to the fortunes you sometimes see as fate
It may have a new perspective on a different day
And if you don't give up and you don't give in, you may just be O.K.
Say it loud, say it clear
You can listen as well as you hear
It's too late when we die
To admit we don't see eye to eye.
I wasn't there that morning when my father passed away
I didn't get to tell him all the things I had to say
I think I caught his spirit later that same year
I'm sure I heard his echo in my baby's new born tears
I just wish I could have told him in the Living Years.
Say it loud, say it clear
You can listen as well as you hear
It's too late when we die
To admit we don't see eye to eye.