Dear Friends,

Happy New Year! Are you ready for 2024? 2023 was kind of a blur for me because it seems like I was right here, welcoming a new year, just a couple of months ago. It does not seem like 12 months have passed. But they have. And more than a few significant things have happened in my life and in the world. On January 28, my husband and I welcomed our 2nd granddaughter, Clara Grace Austin. She joined her sister, Annabelle Larae. What a beautiful example of pure joy—babies.

As I reflect on the year, it is difficult to do without thinking about those we lost, especially those in the limelight and those who passed on way too soon. Jimmy Buffet and Matthew Perry were the most recent and most raw to me. We were shocked by both and we were not finished watching them shine and cheering them on to bring us that next iconic song, show, project or scheme.

I miss them and my heart is sad because, you know, Chandler was like a friend. Someone who always made you laugh and someone you could not wait to see on TV, along with his other FRIENDS. And we always rooted for Matthew. Rest in peace.

Jimmy. There is no one like him and I doubt there ever will be. Someone recently compared him to our generation’s Mark Twain. I agree! I saw the Parrothead leader in concert four times. He was so special to our Gulf Coast and this was his home. Entrepreneur, writer, poet, songwriter, entertainer and much more. Those who knew him personally might tell you he was but a humble traveler, put on this earth purely to administer joy. He was a rare soul.

We lost many more beloved artists in 2023. I was surprised to see so many familiar names… Alan Arkin, Burt Bacharach, Bob Barker, Jeff Beck, Harry Belafonte, Tony Bennet, Robert Blake, David Crosby, Michael Gambon, Norman Lear, Lisa Loring, Sinead O’Connor, Ryan Oneal, Lisa Marie Presley, Suzanne Somers, Jerry Springer, Tina Turner, Raquel Welch, Cindy Williams, Treat Williams and others, gone too soon. Go rest high on that mountain.

But now it is time to relinquish the past and look to the future. Time to renew, revitalize, perhaps respond, rebuild, rekindle, reunite or reinvent. Can you relate? I could go on with this list, but I’ll give you a respite.  You get the idea; you get to start over… what will you redo?

In the words of Natasha Bedingfield:

No one else can feel it for you, only you can let it in.
No one else, no one else can speak the words on your lips.
Drench yourself in words unspoken, live your life with arms wide open
Today is where your book begins, the rest is still unwritten…

God bless you,

Michelle Smith, Publisher