I made a promise...

I made a promise I would make a blog post every week here, so here goes!

This week has been one hell of a week for me. 8 days ago, my brother's wife gave birth to my first niece, the first grandchild for my parents. I still remember holding him in my arms when I was 11, and he had just been born. I was so proud to be a big brother. Now, I am even more proud that I have someone new to love.
Say hello to Emily Payton Cribb.

Sadly I have not been able to meet her since I have been fighting a cold for over a week. That day is coming where Uncle Duane will meet and spoil her!

That emotion carried over into Tuesday when I was dealing with a coworker. It was hard to express why something so small caused the emotion that came through, but it was uncontrollable due to all the feelings running through my head and heart last weekend.

Then, Tuesday night, a result in which I still do not know how to feel, Hillary Clinton won 410,000 more votes than Donald Trump, and conceded the election to the electoral college. Regardless of what side of this election you landed, please join me in saying, "A WOMAN WON THE POPULAR VOTE FOR PRESIDENT." So yes, Emily, you can be anything someday, even President.

And finally, I can chalk up another year. Another year I have not spent passing out on a nightly basis, waking up wherever I landed, ready to, let's just be honest, not be here anymore. 15 years ago today was my first full day without a drink, and I have continued this for more than 15 years as of today. I will not forget that one day, 11/10/2001, when an old friend basically took control of my life and kicked my ass into shape for a few months. The first full day was really 11/11, but it never felt like it since it took well into that day to sober up. So today, I have been completely sober for 15 years. Now with even more to live for than 9 days ago, I can truly be thankful for something else.

This week has been one hell of a ride. I won't get all emotional over it, that's basically happened already, but I can say truthfully life can not be much better for me at this moment.

This song sums up the feelings of this week. I hope you enjoy.