Unfortunately 2011 didn't end in the manner I would have liked, and as much as I hate to start my blogging for 2012 on a bit of a downer, I feel it is something too close to my heart to pass over.

At around 3pm on New Years Eve I got the call that my Grandfather ('Ga' as he was more affectionately know) had lost his battle with cancer. Family, friends, and myself have all been so lucky to have him in our lives for as long as we have, as we were told he wouldn't make Christmas 2011. In his own stubborn fashion, he was here for Christmas, and we all appreciated that fact immensely.

He was an extremely strong willed, proud man. This can be evidenced by the fact that he spent 90 years on this earth and lived through some times that we will hopefully never experience. As a Grandfather he has been a huge influence on both my life, and myself as a person. I have so many fond memories of him and they will remain with me for the rest of my time (which will very unlikely be 90 years). It's hard to truly appreciate living for 90 years, but it was always fascinating for me to listen to his stories of what life was like through World Wars and the Great Depression. These stories will stay with me forever.

Knowing that his time was coming to an end was something that we had time to come to grips with over the past year. I'm appreciative of this time because it allowed us all to make sure we saw him regularly and had our chances to say a proper goodbye every time we left, knowing it could be the last time.

My parents and Aunties have been looking after him for the past 6 months and they have shown great character throughout that time. It can't have been easy for them to sacrifice a lot of their own time and comfort to make sure he had everything he needed day and night, but that is what family is all about. I'm so glad my family they are the way they are and seeing the sacrifices made only makes me appreciate them more and ensures that I stay grounded in my own values as a human being. They did an amazing job, and without them we most certainly wouldn't have had the amount of time we did with Ga.

RIP Ga, you will forever remain in our hearts and memories.

It didn't end there. On the 2nd day of 2012 I got a call that my Pop had also passed away (My dad's dad). This is a little different scenario for me because my father had a falling out with Pop and consequently lost touch over time. This has nothing to do with me as an adult, and I only have fond memories of my Pop. I don't want to go too far into this one, but it is certainly something that is in my heart and mind, so I put it in here.

RIP Pop, I really wish it wasn't the way it was.

OK, that section was probably the toughest blog I've ever written.

Other than this, my start to the year has been super busy. My mind has been full of emotions, but life must carry on. I have only managed to play 2 sessions. One good and one bad. I had a decent Sunday session (5th in $109 2x turbo on Stars for $5.9k and 3rd in the Ongame $100cubed for $10.7k), and my other session was completely bricked out for the most part. All in all, not a bad start to the year.

I have spent a lot of my other time watching the cricket. I headed down to the SCG for Day 2 of the Sydney Test and besides having a great time catching up with some good mates, it was an amazing and history making day of cricket. Watching Ponting score his first Century in 2 years, as well as Clarke scoring over 200 runs in a day was just amazing. I guess it has been a frustrating couple of years as a dedicated lover of Australian cricket. I have grown up in an era where Australia has dominated the cricket world, so the past few years of never really being truly on top has been frustrating to watch at times. The first few days of this Test has seen some extremely dominating cricket played by our National team, and I have loved every minute of it.

Last but not least, I am really trying to prepare myself and get in the right headspace for Aussie Millions. I am leaving in about a week and I am really looking forward to the Series and hoping to play really well and hopefully have some success. It should be a lot of fun, but would be made a lot more fun if I can bink something off.

Anyways, that is all I have for now. I apologise for starting off the year with a bit of a dampener of a blog, but I believe in blogging both my current thoughts and emotions and the passing of my Grandfathers is certainly at the forefront at the moment.

I plan on doing a 2012 Goals blog very shortly. I hope you have all started the year well!!! GL to you all in 2012, I hope it is a prosperous one!

Matt

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