And What A Year It Was

Posted by Susan

Looking back - and what a year this has been for the world, for the United States and for me personally.

This was the year I lost my Louise and my father.

My Winston was diagnosed with lymphocytic lymphoma. He's still blissfully unaware he is ill – so far, so good.

This was the year the world economy tanked and the Wall Street big shots got their Golden Parachutes.

So… this was the year I watched my life savings shrink more than 50%, so retirement is probably much further in the future than previously expected.

This was the year of the bailout – uh, rescue – of Wall Street, AIG, the banks, Freddie Mac, Fannie Mae and the car companies.

What about the little guy? Where is our bailout? The government gave lots and lots of money to the money-lenders, but it doesn't look like any of that money is trickling down to Main Street. Getting credit is more than a challenge.

This was the year that as people lost their jobs and their homes, abandoned their four-legged family members. We've all heard the horrible stories of people moving in the middle of the night and leaving their companion animals locked in an abandoned home. Even more have been tossed outside or surrendered to overburdened shelters.

The critters are suffering for human mistakes.




This was the year that more and more troops were sent to Iraq. According to the New York Times, so far we have lost 4,212 American service members in Iraq.




The politicians want to send more troops to Afghanistan. The U.S. has had a total of 630 military fatalities, with 155 in 2008. They want to pull troops out of Iraq so they can send them to Afghanistan.


2008 was a yet another year of religious zealots, some running for office *cough cough Palin*, that just refuse to accept science and facts over what the sheeple are told from the pulpit. It is inexcusable that the Mormon Church and the inappropriately named Focus on Family donated millions of dollars to deny equal rights (as well as the right to have a bitter divorce and custody battles!) to our gay and lesbian relatives, friends and neighbors.





Our environment has tanked right along with the economy. Due to global warming and the melting of the ice caps, the polar bear is now a threatened species. Let's hope that Dubya doesn't undo any more than he already has before he leaves office. In July, he lifted an executive order banning off shore drilling.



January 20th cannot come too quickly.



This was a pivotal year of CHANGE in electing Barack Obama to be our next president. I admit to having tears in my eyes when the election results were announced. I admire him personally as well as a leader.

President-Elect Obama has taken on an enormous task and is already doing his best to figure out help straighten out so many problems. He has hit the ground running on the economy, the Middle East and the environment. We can only hope that after the inauguration parties are over, he can get things moving in the right direction and congress doesn't stand in his way.



We can all look to the future (like my Stan here!) and hope that 2009 brings good things to all of us.






Be Safe, Healthy and Happy. Be kind to your fellow humans and our four-footed friends.

Happy New Year!