A new beginning

Wow, 2010 was quite a year. There were so many wonderful memories and great moments in 2010, but I can honestly say I was so happy to see it end. The end of 2010 brought a close to my marriage of 16 years, and it was pretty much one of the worst times of my life. My wife, er, soon to be ex-wife is moving out this week, leaving the house to the kids and me. She will continue to be a big part of our lives, but she felt she needed to move on. It reminds me of the old saying "If you love something, set it free", after trying so hard to hold on for many years. The kids and I will be fine, and they are doing great. I can honestly say that my online Disney friends have made this so much easier to go through. I love you all so much, and you truly are more than friends - you have become part of my family. I can't tell you how many emails, text messages, twitter direct messages and twitter replies I received checking on me daily. You all gave me constant encouragement that everything would be OK, and that you all loved me and cared for me. I just wanted to say THANK YOU from the bottom of my heart. I have had the pleasure of meeting a BUNCH of you at the Epic October celebration at Walt Disney World in early October, and I can't wait to meet more of you. I know we've all heard people say "oh, well, they can't be real friends because they're online". Well, I beg to differ. The friends I have made are the same kind of people that would bring food over after a funeral, be there to hug you when you are feeling down, and who would just stop by to say hi and to see you. It's been such a huge part of my life for the last couple years, and my feelings for my new friends/family grow stronger each day. I've always prided myself on answering every email, replying to every tweet or direct message, but somehow during the last 6 months, I've failed to live up to that on some bad days. Even though I sometimes didn't get to reply, or was horribly negligent in doing blog posts, my friends would not give up on me. Pretty awesome if you ask me. :) 

So, I look forward to 2011 being a year of new beginnings. Because our house is the "Sunny D" house, where all the neighbor kids like to hang out, we've decided to make our family room into a pre-teen/teen hang out. It's going to be awesome and the kids and his friends are helping to plan it. It's a place they can feel comfortable, have plenty of room to grow and where I know where they are! :) It's a great new focus and it's going to be awesome. Some of the ideas so far include a popcorn stand, foosball table, movie and video game posters, bringing the xBox 360 and Kinect down, and comfortable seating and lots of room to chill. Of course, I'll have to find a way to sneak in a few Disney items without them knowing it! Well, they DO love Epic Mickey! :)

Anyway, thank you...to all of you for being there for me! I hope I can be there for you when you need me as well. I think the world of you and hope to meet more of you this year. I hope your 2011 is absolutely fantastic!

--- DisneyDean