Like most people — in America and abroad — the year 2020 can't end soon enough. Greeting the New Year itself, I suspect, will have a different tone this year. Less a celebration and more a fervent prayer for the arrival of optimism.

To me, 2020 will always stand as the year I lost my business partner, wise counselor, and best friend: my husband of 54 years, Jim Monteith, who passed away in November. Having suffered from both a neurological ailment and COPD, Jim had grown much worse in recent months.

Anyone who has lost a loved one in the COVID era knows that end-of-life issues are complicated. My wonderfully wise children understood that it would be ill-advised, if not impossible, to have a service. It's probably just as well, as Jim really hated funerals. Instead, our family decided that when international travel is reliable without quarantining, we'll take some of Jim's ashes and travel to Ireland — most likely to County Donegal. We are confident that Jim would like nothing better than to have us give him a sendoff in a Donegal pub.

In the meantime, I wanted to find a way to honor Jim. My effort was made easier because I have begun to organize the thousands of photographs I've taken during our many trips to Ireland. The number of pictures I had snapped of Jim surprised me, and a single theme dominated those images: Jim biding his time while I was off wandering all over towns, villages, harbors, and countrysides with my camera. It was a perfect arrangement for each of us, as I could range far afield on foot while my chauffeur could smoke his pipe in peace, without having to listen to my kvetchinging about his tobacco habit.

The question then arose: how do I present these images?

Not a problem as it turned out: What brought us to Ireland in the first place was my love of Irish music — traditional and contemporary. I first heard the unforgettable voice of Tommy Fleming playing on the radio at a B&B in Killarney in 2004; straightaway, I headed to town to purchase his CDs. As Tommy gained an international following, his playlist became the soundtrack of my life. I can't go a week without listening to his remarkable voice that always lifts my spirit and touches my heart.

When I first heard "Goodbye My Old Friend," from the musical Paddy, which he co-wrote and in which he starred, I was profoundly moved. Looking over my photos, I recognized that no words or music could better capture my feelings about Jim. Always mindful of copyright, I sent an email asking Tommy's permission to use the song. I was delighted that he promptly answered my request, personally, along with a message of sympathy and understanding. PPA Past President Ron Nichols kindly volunteered to create the video. Thanks to Tommy and Ron, I can offer this tribute to Jim.

I am eternally grateful to Jim Monteith for putting up with me for all these years. I see the photos that I took of him in Ireland as a visual metaphor for our life together: I have many passions and a stubbornness to keep pursuing them relentlessly. This tendency keeps my plate way too full, and Jim always was there to clear the way, allowing me to keep moving forward.

I am greatly comforted by these words of Helen Keller: "What we have once enjoyed we can never lose: all that we have deeply loved becomes part of us."

Godspeed, my old friend.

Please view the video here https://youtu.be/0plZk_BtywY.