I'd like to share a very special piece of music with you today. The thing that makes it special is the fact that this was the last melody my mum heard. It was Saturday a week ago when I spent the whole day in the hospital and we talked about everything that we could talk about. At one point we started discussing something about music, and there was a song she wanted me to play to her from Youtube. I played that song and then couple of others, the last one being Estonian composer Heino Eller's (1887-1970) romantic Homeland Melody. It's a tune every Estonian knows and appreciates. By that time she couldn't move much any more but she was still able to move her left hand. So I sat quietly on her bed side in almost dark hospital room, we listened to this beautiful music... and for the very last time she conducted. Conducted with her left hand. I will never forget that moment.

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The funeral was held on Sunday. I don't want to talk about it much. I completely broke down in the end of the funeral. But what made me glad was to see her legacy lasting, people who had sung with her conducting the choir at almost every bigger church event came together to sing to her for one more time. There were almost 60 people in the choir on Sunday. And they sounded beautifully in that big old Lutheran church. My mum would have been proud.

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I'd like to end this year with a quote from Anne M. Lindbergh. "Don't wish me happiness - I don't expect to be happy, it's gotten beyond that, somehow. Wish me courage and strength and a sense of humor - I will need them all." This is my New Year's wish for you, my dear friends. I wish you courage and strength and a sense of humor for 2014. Be blessed, stay strong.