This is my annual thank-you to everyone who had enriched the quality of my life last year in so many different ways.

I want to begin by acknowledging Voyage Media CEO Nat Mundel, Executive Producer Robert Mitas, screenwriter Lydia Genner and Director Andy Fickman, who are collaborating with me to transition my novel into a feature-length motion picture. I am very fortunate to have this proven power team with many Hollywood movie credits on their resumes working with me to fulfill my dream. Our script, soon to be finished, will be shopped to investors in January.

I’m beyond excited to think that my story can become a movie. I have personally thanked these Hollywood moguls for creating what we’re calling a time travel romance with a touch of magical realism.

Once again this year, I’d like to thank my editors, Emmett McCall and Marta Gouger for trusting me with their assignments. I have interviewed a World War II hero and a Ms. Wheelchair Pennsylvania. I’ve sat on a players’ bench to write about the communication between a high school basketball coach and his team during the intense action of a game. I’ve written about great football and baseball games, soccer shootouts and volleyball playoffs. I continue the privilege of writing this column every week.

I had loved teaching high school for 38 years and now I absolutely cherish this opportunity to be a writer.

Speaking of writing, I acknowledge Midge McClosky, who manages the Shawnee Playhouse where I will have my third play produced next summer. I was fortunate to have been one of four short plays chosen from over 75 submitted entries.

I’d like to thank Joe Marykwas and Tim Hubbard for the opportunity to coach Babe Ruth baseball with them for Jim Thorpe last summer. A big thanks goes out to Tom Lienhard, too. Tom and I have coached baseball together for many years, and during these times we have become close friends on and off the field.

My appreciation goes out to the Penn Forest Recreational Park Advisory Board, of which I am the chairman. The dedicated efforts of Robin McGeehan, Jen Bevilaqua, Todd Fox and Rick Tweed have made the park on Route 903 in Jim Thorpe a place where adults and children can enjoy a multitude of outdoor activities. Come out with your lawn chairs next summer and watch outdoor Saturday night at the movies in our park.

I extend my gratitude to the Twilight Boys, better known as POP, our Past Our Prime whiffle ball team. Every summer Tuesday we threw fastballs and curves. We smacked base hits and home runs while reliving our childhood days of playing baseball in neighborhood sandlots. In the winter months we trade the plastic balls for bowling balls at Cypress Lanes in Lehighton.

I thank Mother Nature. She afforded me some of the best bass fishing ever. A special thanks goes out to my friend Alex Stasyk for permitting me to cast my line from the shore of his beautiful backyard.

What would anyone’s life be without the love of good friends? Mike Tedesco and Linda Bernard, Michael Dougherty and his wife, Karen, Brad Dilly, Sean Cuffe, Jeff Grose, Sandor Csapo, Sara Chmielewski, Bill Nyers, Bill Carroll, and the one and only Sharon Kay have all provided me with moments that have given me unforgettable memories. Let me add to my list a bunch of classmates I met again at my high school reunion, proving that you and old friends can have no contact for 50 years and as soon as you see them again, your friendship resumes.

Nothing is more joyful in life than to love and to be loved by your children. My son, Richie, and my daughter, Sadie, continue to make me proud of them. I have said this before and it is worth repeating. My heart skips a beat whenever my kids call me Dad. My fatherhood is a privilege that I will never take for granted.

Of course, I must thank all of you who take a few moments from your busy lives to read my columns. I enjoy receiving your emails. I continue to amaze myself that I can find something to write about each week, and that’s because I love the relationships I have with my dedicated readers.

As we come upon the season of giving, I offer a gift from me to you, words from lessons that have come from my lifetime of joys, sorrows, successes and failures.

If you are telling yourself you have to slow down, then stop making excuses and slow down.

If you need to refocus your life, then do it. Embrace solitude. Sit in silence and listen to the voice in your soul.

If you need to forgive someone, then unlock the chains. Free him or her from the pain of hurting you.

If you have to ask for forgiveness, no matter if it’s accepted, you will make yourself vulnerable, but by doing so you will reach a level of courage that you had never thought you could achieve.

Tell that someone you love them. Show and tell your affection. Add an exclamation point to the three most life giving words in the English language.

Be kind, be grateful and be positive. See the sun through the clouds of a dreary day. Live every day by the beautiful words sung by the great Louis Armstrong.

“And I think to myself what a wonderful world!”

Rich Strack can be reached at katehep11@gmail.com.