Hope

We spent 2 weeks in Wales in December. A combination work/family visit trip. Richard and I have been married 24 years now and I've lost track of how many times I've been to the UK. But there is an interesting thing that happens every time I visit. At least once, someone will draw me aside and say to me, "ah the Americans...." Or sometimes they say "The Yanks..." and then they go on to elaborate their gratitude to our WWII forces. When hope was nearly lost, rescue arrived. I find it incredibly touching. As the years go by, I am hearing this from people who were children at the time, or in some cases not even born yet. The gratitude has transcended generations.

This has been a unprecedented year, and as it winds to a close, hope once again seems in short supply. This time, our way of life is being threatened by greed, corruption, mismanagement, irresponsibility. Enemies that are vague and diffuse, frustratingly out of reach for the sound thrashing they deserve. As people who have gone to work each day, paid our taxes, donated to charity and done the right thing in daily, countless little ways, it's crazy-making listening to one ill-conceived scheme after another designed to bail out various unrepentant losers.

There's not a lot an individual can do, but I'm a big believer in hope and receiving what you project. If you expect good things, they tend to come to you. Over and over in my life I've seen what I need arrive just in time. There's no doubt at this stage in our lives we will have to reset our expectations and adjust our plans, but we have decided to stay focused on what is truly important – each other, our health, our friends and family, and at the moment anyway - employment. I have hope that the rest will eventually work itself out.

A FOLLOW UP TO HOPE
My friend Alisa had a lovely and eloquent response to this subject that I'd like to include. She related this:

"About a year ago I told my father that I believed our country had reached its zenith and that W had initiated our descent. He replied 'You must never lose hope. To do so would be tantamount to abandoning your faith.' He left it at that and calmly moved on to another topic. It took only a few moments for me to understand that he was right. It is often in our darkest moments that we bond in the most profound ways. From this unity we can do the most extraordinary things. So, my feet are firmly planted in hope for 2009."

Thank you to Alisa Pisciotto and her father, Frank Rogers. We needed that.