End of The Naughties?

I just read on a friend’s Facebook page that “The Naughties,” as in 20-naught-whatever number ends the year, is the phrase the illustrious media has coined to call the decade we are leaving behind. Well, I never used the 20-naught phrase for the years anyway, it was two-thousand, two-thousand-one, etcetera to the year that ends tonight, two-thousand-nine, but I love the double-meaning of “the Naughties.” Okay, maybe I’m the only one who rode the coattails of Santa’s recent visit with that one. There have definitely been some things to award some major world figures a permanent place on the Naughty list!

In looking at the past decade there has been plenty of bad and good, maybe a little more bad on a world and economic scale and maybe more opportunities than rewards on a personal level, but the outlook going into the 20-teens is good. I am a decade older and hopefully that means a decade wiser. I’m definitely a decade richer in the things that are truly important. A decade ago my sweet little nieces were 5 and dealing with the child’s struggle of divorce. They lost their Mom only a few months into the decade and now, with the support and love from all of us, they are well-adjusted and incredibly wise young women. Deaths and births are a normal part of the balance of life. Part of healing from loss is realizing that what you have is still really weighted on the joy side and not the sadness side. I’ve dealt with the pain of losing some very dear people in the past decade, including too many people this year. But I am ever warmed by the great memories of them I hold and I’ve welcomed new friends into my family and new life into the families in my world, including my wonderful husband and a new baby in my family of friends scheduled for the beginning of the year!

As I get ready to turn off the computer for the last time this decade, I remember all that is so wonderful in my world and pray for those less fortunate to find the comfort and security they seek. As I said in a comment on Edna’s blog, we can sometimes hear the wind chimes gently ring in our bedroom because there is a small draft. That’s why I bunker into extra blankets, but we have a ceiling to hang wind chimes from in the bedroom. There are so many around us who don’t have that.

In a year that David and I felt pain reading articles of people who’ve had to take their beloved pets to shelters because they lost their homes and had to move to apartments that don’t accept pets or who just couldn’t afford to care for them, we were able to open our home to another furbaby and donate a little money and time at the shelter events.

In a holiday season when I’ve seen parents with pained faces saying “no” to their kids, I was able to take Tori and Rina out for lunch yesterday. I also got to hear 15 years of wisdom tell me how important the time we spend together is to them and that lunch and coffee at Starbucks was one of the best presents they had this year. What a small price to pay for such an awesome gift for me!!

So yes, 2009 was a year of many challenges and lows but one of so many high points too. My brother’s wedding and my own reception were definite high points, as were the two weeks out west for our honeymoon that David and I shared. As I mentioned in the yearly letter I sent with the Christmas Cards this year, the low points have really let the strength in our marriage shine and left me feeling more secure and in love than I could have imagined I’d feel a year ago.

Now, going into 2010, a new decade, I look forward to the relationships with not just David, but my family of fiends getting deeper and warmer, finishing school and my network certification testing and being able to increase our household income and security and Kaline is finally coming to terms with Carla and even playing with her a bit. The future looks good.

I want to wish everyone a 2010 that brings you more of everything that was good this year and less of anything that as bad and may you find the strength in yourself to find that good and help it grow.

Happy New Year!!