Since retiring as Peterborough’s recreation director in December 2002, fond memories continue to come to mind of the many people I was gifted to know from the fall of 1972 to the present.
Now that the curtain is closing on an exhausting 2021 year, I would like to wish all Ledger-Transcript readers (along with their loved ones) a long-overdue “best ever” year in 2022. I would also like to share a few condensed lines, from past readings, that may be worth thinking about for the new year.
On the morning of Jan. 1, think first of someone else. Write a love letter. You’ll never have a friend if you insist on having one without fault. Mend a quarrel. A soft answer turns wrath away. Talk slowly but think quickly. Scoff at envy. Denounce complacency. Do battle with malice.
Dismiss suspicion and trust. Seek out a forgotten friend. Welcome a stranger. A smooth sea never made a skilled sailor. When someone hugs you, let them be the first to let go.
Love looks not with the eyes but with the mind. The world is a school. Everyone smiles in the same language. Angels exist, only sometimes they haven’t got wings and we call them friends. Think things through.
Spoil your spouse but not your children. Keep a promise. Be kind. Be gentle. Be confident. Trust in God but lock your car. Don’t confuse foolishness with bravery. Not getting what you want is sometimes a wonderful stroke of luck.
You don’t have to be perfect to be amazing. Gladden the heart of a child. Laugh a little. Laugh a little bit more. Reflect on the beauty and wonder of the earth. Be excessive in gratitude. Speak your love. Speak it again. Speak it still once more.
Roland “Beaver” Jutras
Meredith