I have learned many things this past year.

I learned that no matter how hard you try to help certain people, things can still go badly wrong.

I learned that a person can be destroyed on circumstantial evidence.

I learned that if I’m knocked down, I will get back up.

I learned that it is often very difficult to get back up.

I learned that there will always be hateful people who assume the worst.

I learned that I do not want to be one of them.

I learned who my friends were. And who they weren’t.

I learned about trust. And how we should do it even when we probably shouldn’t.

I learned about love, in ways I didn’t realize I didn’t know.

I learned that a friend who doesn’t believe you, isn’t really a friend, and never was.

I learned that my children are not only extremely good-looking and smart, but that they are also lovely compassionate people who trust me, believe in me, love me, and like me.

I learned that my children are grown up. And that I need to stop raising them, because they are raised.

I learned that I did a very good job raising them.

I learned that I am very good at my job, and can do it no matter what the circumstances.

I learned that there are many different kinds of death.

I learned that there are worse things than death.

I learned that I assume the best about people even when they have no best to offer.

I learned that I would rather be a truster than a doubter.

I learned that being a truster can destroy the world as you know it.

I learned that I can re-construct the world.

I learned that people who are hateful to anyone, can be hateful to you.

I learned that an evidential evaluation of someone can be incorrect.

I learned that some people are just plain awful, and nothing can change them.

I learned that I try to change them anyway.

I learned that no one is safe from a person who likes to be cruel.

I learned that a person who likes to taunt, also likes to hurt.

I learned that Don Quixote was right: Facts are the enemy of truth.

I learned that even though there are people who thrive on hating and hurting, most people are lovely and kind and good, and that those are the people we need by our sides.

I’ve learned that suspicion and doubt can turn people into monsters.

I learned that people who are proud of their words always sign their names.

I learned that anonymous can also mean cowardly, shameful, and wrong.

I’ve learned that the world is full of fabulous awesome people, and that many of them are on my blogroll.

I’ve learned to love people I’ve never actually met.

I’ve learned that one bad experience should not limit you in any way when it comes to trying again.

I’ve learned about friendship. The real kind, not what passes for it with some people.

I’ve learned to smile again. Maybe eventually I’ll learn to laugh again.

I’ve learned that falling for a scam doesn’t make a person stupid. It makes them smarter.

I learned that someone I thought was a conniving deceitful person, was actually a desperately ill person who was grasping at straws. And I’m sorry I misjudged her.

I learned that a person in authority is not always a person who can be respected.

I learned that I can take it on the chin, and keep going.

I learned that suspicion can cripple a person.

I learned about regret. And trauma. I learned about being fair. And being unfair.

I learned that a person who always considered herself a weed’s seedling, is actually a Tall Poppy after all.

The view is grand. I can see the horizon from up here.

And, what is beyond the horizon? I don’t know. But I shall grow taller, and find out.

Dear Blogger Friends, you mean so much to me that there are no words. I can only sit here and smile at the screen as I think of each of you. Thank you. Thank you all for being yourselves, and for sharing it.