Happy 2019! We hope you enjoyed our December 2018 issue as we said goodbye to another year of awful and awesome events.

In this issue, we’ll be looking at how we started, how far we have come  and what we want to achieve in 2019. This goes for our magazine and our lives.

I’ve been battling a chronic knee problem I’ve had since I was 16. It’s always worse in winter and usually not as debilitating as it was this month, but it’s a daily reminder that I’m lucky to be alive. Many of us forget to be thankful for every sunrise, every sunset, every step we are able to take and every “I love you” we get to say. Though I would prefer to always be pain-free and invincible, the occasional reminder of my own mortality keeps me grounded and grateful for the truly awesome blessings in my life.

Several members of our writing team are taking some much needed R and R after the holidays, but Patricia Petrusik, Tanya Bashor and Linda Cahill are back with articles this month. We have some reading suggestions for you and also for young readers and a fun quiz about winter sports.

Samantha Sayers is still missing. She disappeared on August 1, after a day of solo hiking at Vesper Peak near Seattle, Washington. Sam was raised in the Erie, Pennsylvania area where her parents Ron and Lisa still live. Her family is exploring all avenues of inquiry to find and bring her home. In the face of such an enormous challenge, they have chosen hope.

Please keep sending positive thoughts to Sam and her family. As promised, we will be displaying a yellow ribbon for Sam on the opening page of each issue of This Awful Awesome Life until she is home. Please consider displaying yellow ribbon for Sam  and posting a photo of it on the Facebook page, Ribbons Across the World for Sam Sayers. Please include your city and country. If you are a person of faith, please pray for her safe return to her family. Because we are an online publication, we are able to update this article with any news. We will also post information on our Facebook page. Thank you!

Give yourself the perfect start to the 2019 – subscribe to our free mailing list and each new issue of This Awful Awesome Life will be delivered directly to your inbox with a personal note from me.

Happy Reading,

Fran