I’ve been reflecting on the past year and how grateful I am on so many levels. Sometimes it it easy and understandable to focus too much on the negatives and the chaos in the world. Through it all I try very hard to be cheerful, hopeful, more patient, and positive…definitely a work in progress. I’ve had a wonderful and transformative year of discovery, adventure, family, and…LOVE! I’ll share some favorites of 2025.

The loving spark in my life is…Marla. She is my hero, life guide, and fun partner on this journey. She is a fighter who may get knocked about with health issues, but comes up swinging. We are blessed to have a myriad of great doctors from cardiologists, rheumatologists, optometrists, and retina specialists who administer special shots in the eye. The list is long. Thank you Marla for such a glorious year!

Baby…you’re my oxygen

FAMILY IS ALWAYS OUR FAVORITE FOCUS

Our children and grandchildren were a huge and beautiful part of our year! We are fortunate to have our daughter Lisa and husband Ray so close by! Grandson Paxton moved back to Denver from Boston with his partner Johnny, and is teaching middle school history at the same school Marla once taught…Cole Middle School! Granddaughter Logan graduated early from USC in California and is working on her masters in public policy.

With our daughter Stacy this year.

We spent wonderful time with our grandchildren in Texas and Colorado this year! This was in December.

MY FAVORITE EVENT OF 2025

The 2025 Collector’s Choice Gala at the Denver Art Museum was very special. We are with Christoph Heinrich, the director of the museum. 

We gathered with close friends and family for the fabulous evening.

MY FAVORITE 2025 BIG ADVENTURES

My friend Tom Rackerby is a consummate adventurer and asked me to join him and Jennie Walker for a February Butterfield & Robinson bike tour in Sri Lanka. It was great on multiple levels! I’m climbing steep steps up Sigiriya, an ancient rock fortress. I have a little acrophobia, but I made it to the summit!

Another favorite 2025 adventure was an AHI tour of Southeast Asia with our daughter Lisa and husband Ray. The itinerary, our fellow travelers, and expert guides were fabulous! We are pictured in front of Angkor Wat in Cambodia.

FAVORITE NEW EXPERIENCE

The Belmond Eastern & Oriental Express train in Malaysia was new and very exciting for all of us! 

FAVORITE 2025 HOTEL

The Kayon Jungle Resort near Bresela, outside of Ubud, Bali.

MOST EXCITING EVENING IN 2025

Our very favorite evening for the entire year (possibly ever!) was during the Balinese New Year of Nyepi. I wanted to hire transport to take us to Ubud for the Ogoh-Ogoh parade. The resort front desk said unfortunately they couldn’t but suggested we go to the small village of Bresela nearby. It turned out to be one of our most exciting evenings…EVER!

FAVORITE 2025 HIKE

We stumbled upon a new and gorgeous trail in the Samuel P. Taylor State Park in Marin County.

FAVORITE PICNIC

Our great friend, Lea Isetti, is our supreme picnic organizer. She brought everything for our picnic in Samuel P. Taylor State Park.

FAVORITE DANCE MOVES

Marla hits the dance floor at Sala Rim Naam in Bangkok.

FAVORITE SUNSETS

The sunset above is at Cedar Creek Lake in Texas. I love the shaft of orange and the American White Pelicans swimming by. Of course, nothing beats the sunsets from the back deck of our home.

FAVORITE CYCLING ADVENTURE WITH OUR GRANDSONS

I totally loved cycling with grandsons Vaughan and Owen in Tuscany.

FAVORITE NEW DISCOVERIES IN 2025

Honfleur in France’s Normandy region. I bought the most fabulous jam at the market! It was so fantastic I asked Marla if we could return…just for more jam!

The Dambulla cave temple complex in Sri Lanka was one of the most interesting experiences in my life!

Rouen is a fascinating city in the Normandy region.

FAVORITE APEROL SPRITZ

I’ve had many Aperol Spritzes this year, but my favorite was at Ristorante Mare Blu in San Remo! The cuisine was amazing as well. I’ll post on my favorite 2025 meals soon.

MUSIC VIDEOS THAT CAPTURED ME IN 2025

During dinner in Ubud Bali with Marla, Lisa and Ray in March, I heard a song being played, but I couldn’t remember the group. Lisa said it was the Cranberries. “Ode to my Family” really resonated with me! The video shot and directed by Samuel Taylor showcases the Cranberries song with very poignant and melancholy imagery. I tear up almost every time I watch the video!

Zombie by the Cranberries also grabbed me! The video features real footage from Northern Ireland during The Troubles, interspersed with scenes of the band and Dolores O’Riordan in gold makeup. 

I loved this song by Yungblud performed on Jimmy Kimmel Live!

I really enjoyed this performance by Benson Boone at Coachella. Brian May, from Queen, rose from the floor to join the set. Marla, Lisa, Ray, and I saw Benson Boone in Denver later in the year. This is Marla’s favorite performer this year!

SOME OF MY FAVORITE 2025 BOOKS

I’ve been reading more than usual this year. William Dalrymple’s “The Golden Road” is like taking a difficult college history class.

FAVORITE TV THIS YEAR

We watched many great TV shows this year primarily on PBS, Britbox, Acorn, Apple TV, Netflix, Amazon, and MHZ Choice. Here are just a few: Miss Scarlet, Cassandre, Professor T, Unforgotten, Maigret, The Gold, Patience, Lynley, Blue Lights, Ludwig, Murder Before Evensong, Dalgliesh, Chelsea Detective, Slow Horses, Department Q, Black Doves, Down Cemetery Road, The Lowdown, and we really loved Bleak House (2005) and Death Comes to Pemberley. Of course Fareed Zakaria, CBS Sunday Morning, Table For Five, and Jimmy Kimmel Live. And, I almost forgot…SNL! I also watch Track & Field as well as cycling on TV.

ACTIONS I’M PROUD OF THIS YEAR!

Marla, Lisa, and I marched at two different Denver “No Kings” demonstrations this year. I went to a downtown Denver event with 30,000+ passionate demonstrators.

It is difficult to remain calm and sane in this current chaotic political climate! We are witnessing an authoritarian onslaught without precedent in our lifetime! We have a regime tearing apart important aspects of our country to satisfy radical extreme far-right leadership. The rights of so many are being trampled upon like never before. I will continue to support organizations fighting against homo/transphobic, islamophobic, xenophobic, and blatant kleptocratic actions in Washington. We will NOT be intimidated! Positive change will happen. Thank you to the ACLU, Committee to Protect Journalists, World Central Kitchen, PBS & NPR, the Human Rights Campaign, and many others!

As Marvin Gaye once sang…“You know we got to find a way to bring some lovin’ here today!”

KINDNESS WILL BE COMING BACK…and that is a good thing!

FINDING HAPPINESS & HOPE IN THE YEAR AHEAD

I will work hard to be a loving husband, father, grandfather, and friend in the year ahead! I will focus on staying connected, caring for others, staying as healthy as possible, physically and emotionally. I will find joy in small beautiful things…and big things…with new adventures close to home and far away. I’m not sure what my karmic script has planned out for me but in the meantime I want to keep my life knob turned to…11 !!!

I want to thank all of you who helped make 2025 so wonderful and amazing! May your New Year be happy, healthy, and transformative!

Photos: Dick Gentry. Not to be used without permission.