December

This was another year in which we suffered from corona and its strains. All the time we were under more or less stress, and prolonged stress is, say doctors, fatal. Corona, other diseases and old age took many lives in the past year.

The region lost, among others, actors Milan Gutović, Mira Furlan, Vlasta Velisavljević, musicians Đorđe Balašević, Đorđe Marjanović, Zafir Hadžimanov, Predrag Živković Tozovac, writer Vladimir Andrić, former football players and coaches Ivan Toplak, Momčilo Vukotić, Zlatko Kranjčar, basketball player expert Dušan Ivković, athletes Vera Nikolić and Nenad Stekić, former President of the Presidency of the SFRY Borisav Jović, Bishop Atanasij Jevtić, Admiral Branko Mamula, presenter Minja Subota; the world said goodbye to Jean-Paul Belmond, Rafaela Carr, Mikis Theodorakis, Gerd Müller, Larry King, Kenneth Kaunda...

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In the second half of December, two prominent Barans left, professors emeritus, first Stevan Bato Popović, and three days later Nikola Gvozdenović Gvozdo.

With the two of them, we have been family friends for decades. I looked forward to every meeting with them. With Bata, when my father was alive, I would end the conversation with his obligatory: "Say hello to my professor!" And with Gvozda, I would always start it with the same question and answer: "How are you, Gvozda?" - "Communist!"

For us boys from Popovići, Bato was an eternal charmer and a man who succeeded in life, and we admired Gvozd because he created everything with his work and talent.

Some say that the Bar is expanding daily. I do not know, maybe. For me, my Bar is getting narrower and narrower.

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Corona, not only directly, but also indirectly, shortened many people's lives, because they had to give up some habits that they had liked for years.

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In the world, only top athletes from the Yugoslav territories can preserve their dignity until the end and do not have to adapt. Above all, I am thinking of Novak Djokovic and Zlatan Ibrahimovic. The best tennis player of all time attracts attention and admiration wherever he appears. From the spectacular descent to the stage of the famous "San Remo", with "Jutro je", hats off to Zlatan. It's a shame that at least sometimes Luka Modrić can't (or can't) be "ours".

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Whole life is like a game of chess: man tries to choose the best one from several possibilities. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. And that seemingly paradoxical pleonasm: what you gain on the bridge, you lose on the bridge, is rightly evergreen.

All three of our daughters left home at the age of 16 to pursue their own happiness. I know it sounds harsh, but they will find that happiness and peace of mind only when they are not tied to their homeland by their loved ones. In this way, their thoughts and hearts are always where they started in the world...

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There is no relaxation and real rest with the Internet, social networks and websites.

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Every December, I listen to the song "Mrzim decembar" at least ten times, mostly the version with Sancho as a vocal soloist. And I'm always sorry that the most famous verse of this kind of Bar anthem doesn't say: "I still hate December when the north embraces my Bar". Instead of "Bar", "city" remained for all time.

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I think that every greeting for the new year 2022 is superfluous, except for the one related to health...