I am truly awed by the impact that my December article (“The “Worst” Article I Ever Wrote”) had on our readers and throughout the community. I truly don’t know how to respond which is why I chose to simply relate the words of my favorite poem, which I was introduced to by my wife before we were married while she was in the tenth grade at the High School Commerce and I was in the twelfth grade at Technical High School.
The poem is titled “Invictus” and it was written by a poet who was under a lot of pressure…far more than I experienced from the reaction to my December article. He had lost one leg and was faced with losing the other and, in 1875, he wrote:

INVICTUS
By William Ernest Henley

Out of the night that covers me
Black as the pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance,
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds and shall find me unafraid.

It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate
I am the captain of my soul.

It was not the only poem that my wife of 57 years introduced me to during those early years, but it was the one that most inspired me and helped me to weather many storms in my journey from the “street life” to where I am today. But, from whence I came, I don’t forget. And I hug its rich remnants to my chest with deep pride and I hope I’ve passed some of it along to my sons and that they, in turn, pass it on to my grandkids. Adversity breeds strength whether it is lived or learned.  
Often, I tell my sons about how hard they need to be on themselves. I’ve said it so many times that I suspect they finally got the message and they don’t need to hear it from me anymore. They’re doing quite well with my message, which I learned through experience, and which I don’t mind sharing with anyone who is interested and with some who are not, which is probably a good part of my motivation for my December article, for which some applauded me while some were a bit upset.  
It’s all good! It sparked needed conversation. And for that, I am grateful. And I hope something positive comes out of it.  

Happy New Year to all! ■