At the end of 1989 I remember thinking, “Once again another year has come to an end and I’m on the verge of a new decade.”
It had been difficult for me to review ’89 because I automatically thought of Cindy’s death. And that hadn’t occurred until the end of May yet the first 4¾ months of that year were insignificant.
On May 25th, 1989, my sister, Cindy, had disappeared and two weeks later on June 8th (her ex-husband’s birthday) her body was found. The remainder of that year had been shadowed with Cindy’s death. And although the shock had worn off by the end of 1989 and the pain had diminished somewhat, I had still felt an overwhelming sadness. (By that point I was seeing a counselor almost every week and she had helped me to work through so much. And a stress management course I took that October had been somewhat helpful.)
The coroner’s inquest into Cindy’s death had been first scheduled for October 1989, then November, then for the following February! So 1990 had held a great deal of hope (that answers for Cindy’s mysterious death would be revealed).
Every year at this time I review the past 12 months, take note of (and feel gratitude for) what I’ve learned and the people I’ve met, and plan the direction I want my life to take.
I expect I’ll learn a tremendous amount in the next year.
And I think some of the things I’ll focus on are forgiveness and giving thanks and appreciating the daily miracles.
And receiving goodness and love and recycling it back to others.
Melanie Hack
Author of Who Killed My Sister, My Friend
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TV Shows and Clips about the death of Cindy James