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Happy New Year to everyone!  May your new year bring inspiration, enjoyment, fulfillment, and pleasant surprises!

My student Ori Moore is having a ball – playing clarinet, trombone, trumpet and piano on his multi-tracked album of seasonal favorites of original arrangements.  Ori is a true Renaissance Man!  From my composition studio to you, happy holidays!  The link to Ori’s YouTube performance is in the first comment.

My student Alex Moiseev grew musically by leaps and bounds during his Covid-imposed time at home. Isolation can actually work well for creative people with a passion! Now he’s a Senior National Finalist in the prestigious MTNA Composition Competition. I am delighted to be his mentor and teacher and friend.

I’m so proud of my student Raphi. He worked hard all summer “Piano Moods” piece, and finished three movements!  He just became a National Finalist in the prestigious MTNA Composition Competition. Now he competes for the prize of National winner, which will be announced in late January. Cross your fingers!

This photo of myself and my siblings, including my daughter and my nephew, was taken during the celebration of the college graduation day of my sister Mariel. After a few months, she also passes the LICENSURE EXAM FOR TEACHER in the year 2017.  Now she is working as a Public Teacher.

My colleagues and I. The four of us dressed to represent three of the ethnic groups in my country. There are over 200 ethnic groups in my country of which three are major – Hausa, Igbo and Yoruba. It was a day set aside to recognize our cultural diversity.

A bit of camera trickery representing the joy of receiving a special gift

In a poor, hierarchical country like Colombia, it is a rare thing to come from humble circumstances and be studying for a doctor’s degree in Economics. With a scholarship in Logan, Utah, Brigitte left her mother and me in August 2021. She’ll be back as a PhD in 2026.

The world changed two years ago with COVID. This is my daughter, and she has Autism. It makes sudden change hard in the best of times. But she did it, she graduated junior high!  All completed virtually. Gravity may keep us grounded but she still makes the choice to jump.

My daughter showing her first place trophies after winning the level one figure skating competition at the Grimsby Opens in 2006

Feeling torn in two? This mushroom is still thriving, held together by threads. Nature’s surprise after a summer’s rain. Still thriving, it greeted day-peep once more. Maybe I’ll strive to be like the mushroom someday, maybe I’ll also accept that I’m perfectly imperfect. For now, I know, I’m only human.

Adopting a deaf, un-socialised puppy a year ago in the middle of a covid-lockdown has proved a huge boost for my writing. The ideas for at least half the stories and poems I’ve written since then were conceived or developed on our long daily walks. And Lily is thriving!