Y2K a new Decade is here. Karakoram Awaits

We are approaching a new year, a new decade. Wow, so much has changed for me this year, moving to an assisted living home has been the biggie. Living without the MS drug for spasticity, Zanaflex, after taking it for a decade was pretty huge. All the ER visits, hospital stays of my partner are not so unusal, but I wasn't all alone here. Losing a dear friend was devastating, but she appeared when we needed her most and now we will survive.

After those events it is Obama who will mark the beginning of the new year. He has brought us back from the brink of financial and world opinion disaster. He is fighting to save our military men and women. Health care reform is a reality. He has taken on a fixer-upper and there is still much work to do, but with him as our leader I have faith he will reach his goals. I am so proud to be alive in the USA right now.

Yes, the KKK is trying to recruit, religious fanatics are tainting faithful followers, terrorists are gathering their troops, jobs are still in hiding, the rich are still getting richer...but I feel hope with my president in command. That is something I hadn't felt in the previous 8 years.

1999, Dec.31, I was staffing the phones for the city of Seattle. (Public Utilities, water, sewer, garbage, electricity, drainage) People were freakin' out about Y2K. Most were older women, perhaps living alone, and the most asked question (all callers were close to hysterical) was: "What will I do with my poop?"

I stayed on the phone with one distraught woman for many minutes, her questions were endless. I kept trying to assure her that nothing would happen. (Though after 10 hours these people were starting to make me wonder...NO, I refused to go there.) I told her this and I believed it: "Whatever happens I have faith in the citizens of Seattle and my co-workers. We will all work together to make things okay, no matter what happens."

Y2K came and went like any other New Year's day. But, those of us who lived it will have stories to tell ( and I hope lessons learned) about how paranoid the world got. If we follow like sheep we may find ourselves falling off a cliff. Let rational thought, sound reason, faith in your fellow human beings and common sense guide you.

Happy New Decade to the world! May we find a way to accept our differences. May freedom ring from the towering Mt. Karakoram in Pakistan to the Iranian oil wells and from the Oval Office to every large health insurance company. Let the ringing deafen the ears of those who live in greed and blind the eyes of unscrupulous lobbyists. May bloodshed be exchanged for compromise and brotherhood. Let the ideals of freedom engulf you without hurting any other living soul.

Together we must find a way. Happy New Decade!