Retrospect

In order to move forward to the new year you have to take stock of what occurred in the ending year.

Family: Family was good in 2008, for the most part. We are all still calling and visiting each other, that is a good sign. No major illnesses (God's blessings)We had one addition to the immediate family Karla got married to Tim (social event of the season), there was one was one addition to the extended family - welcome Ethan. We probably had no more and a heck of a lot less drama than any other family.

Politics: The country saw one of the best campaigns in our recent political history. Americans stepped to the plate and put country first and in doing so elected the first African-American to the highest political position in the land. Barack Obama brought life and hope back to the policitical process. We saw Sarah Palin a moose hunting, past beauty queen, small town Alaskan mayor rise from obscurity to world fame as she was named to the republican ticket as John McCain's vice-presidential running mate. Her extensive foreign policy experience - she can see Russia from her porch coupled with her breadth and depth of general world events - she couldn't name one major publication or newspaper that she reads on a daily basis, nailed her qualifications for this position that is a heart beat away from the presidency. And that heart beat was something to really be concerned with seeing that her running mate was well over 70 years old.

Economy: means woe is me. The financial crisis has been the biggest f***k job ever. Billions given to banking as a major bailout but no one has benefited except the bankers. People continue to lose their homes. But mind you many of these folks were/are in homes they could not afford to begin with. That is a whole different story for another day. But I will say those of us fighting to do the right thing, bought homes we could afford are paying our mortgages we get no breaks, no bailouts, no one is telling us we can miss a few payments but I digress. According to the losses we have incurred it will take about 10 years to make up. That means additional years have been added to my retirement plan but I am not alone in this, many of us will work longer as a result of banker greed and large company mismanagement. Companies we did not work for but which we all own some part of since it is our dollars that keep them afloat.

Legends lost: Eartha, Bernie, Paul, Isaac, and so many more. And to those that never got the chance - the service warriors - men and women- to create their legend we say God Bless...
Entertainment: Found it all pretty boring. Real life was much more interesting.

So in retrospect it was a year we all got through. For 2009 I plan to enjoy my family, continue to track Barack and offer whatever support I can to help push his agenda forward and finally continue to work for my future.