This is the time of the year when everybody does a top ten list, so I will do one too. Remember, this is the world according to Big Daddy.
10. Aftermath of the tsunami. Yeah, I know it actually occured 12/26/04, but the aftermath lasted well into 2005. When mother nature kills more people than atomic bombs, it brings man's arrogance into focus, because the power of the natural world is beyond our imagination.
9. Saddam on trial. He gassed his own people. He started wars. He thumbed his nose at the world. He hid in the spider hole. Now, he will get his, and from the Iraqi people.
8. Bengals make the playoffs. For the first time in 15 years, Bengals fans can cheer their team in the playoffs. At home, even!
7. 25th High School Reunion. Because I made it. And I don't get out much!
6. My oldest daughter learns to drive. Most tangible evidence yet that I'm getting old.
5. Elections in Afghanistan and Iraq. Despite the naysayers, the military was able to help these countries pull it off. If we are going to stop terrorists, one of the things we'll need to do is make their homelands better places, so maybe they won't want to die so badly.
4. Earthquake in Pakistan. Fifty thousand dead? Think of it, thats an entire small city, just gone. Never mind a million left homeless.
3. Hurricanes. Wilma, Rita, and the big monster Katrina. Biloxi devasted. Gulfport devasted. New Orleans, spared the worst, only to flood when the levee broke.
2. The passing of Pope John Paul. Arguably the most beloved and important figure of the last half of the twentieth century, and the only pope many people ever knew. His leadership and influence will be felt for many many years.
1. Renal cell carcinoma. When you get something like this, other things don't seem quite so important. So far, God has blessed me with a complete recovery. Being faced with your own mortality makes one feel an extra sense of gratitude for every day God gives us.
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