Tomorrow is the first day of winter. We are four days from Christmas 2009 and then the following week is the beginning of a new year, 2010.
Seems like only yesterday when everyone was concerned about the changing of a new century and how the year 2000 would affect our computers, lives, etc. Of course, nothing happened except the changing of another year.
In the past decade I’ve gotten five new grandchildren and lost my father. I’ve closed a business and started a new job I like most of the time. Tried to move up the ladder but may try checking into new adventures. Many changes and mostly good.
We had September 11, 2001 which united a country for awhile but as I said before, too many had forgotten too fast. We remember every year but are we safe?
My son has served in the war twice and survived by the skin of his teeth as many other troops have. Too many have not and too many have served these two wars more than twice or even three times. I guess what scares me is his third opportunity is probably about the corner. I share the worry and thoughts of many parents, wives, husbands, children, etc. We can only imagine the fear of living a life in a war. The fears for anyone. You take it one day at a time but the fear of losing that loved one is a constant torment.
We’ve elected our first African American president who has been in office about a year now. The polls are already judging him and dropping by his accomplishments of that first year. As usual we expect everything to be fixed by now but it took awhile for our country to become this way. He was slow on his judgment of sending more to war but pushing so quickly to get this health care reform through. The health care reform – personally I could wait on. They are pushing too fast. I feel this needs more time for thought and work.
Over the past decade I’ve gained a lot of weight but toward the end I’ve managed to lose quite a bit. This getting old can be a pain as your body doesn’t want to do what your mind plans to. The metabolism slows down plus I’ve had a hysterectomy which knocked the hormones and cholesterol all out of whack. Just meaning I have to be more aware of what I am eating and getting more exercise. Maybe I will get a Wii and learn to beat the grandchildren and get exercise at the same time.
What is to come in the next decade? Two of my grandchildren will graduate from high school. I will be approaching retirement towards the end. My husband will retire at the end of the decade. I also know as of June 2010 I will have one more grandchild.
Where will I be? Will I still be? We never really know, do we? We plan and work. Will we still be fighting two wars? Will our divided country unite and work as one? What shape would our economy be in? What shape will our earth be in? What new diseases will there be? Will there be cures for old or new diseases? What animals will no longer be? What will our seasons be like?
We will learn this all soon enough. May everyone have a Happy New Year and all good things happen in your next ten years.
