A New Year Journal Entry

This New Year, looking back brings a perspective of events that I had believed would never happen.

The New Year makes one ponder on things of years past. It's a happy event when I have something to say other than "Whew! I made it through that year! With the passing of time though, one learns to balance the extremes in order to preserve a semblance of calm.

Of previous years and the unimagined:

It happened: Marriage was one thing I believed would never happen. Daddy's girls are hard to please in the first place. Because he raised me to be independent and fostered my intelligence, I already had marks against the prospects of marriage. At age 35, it happened, and very happily so.

It didn't happen but I couldn't believe that predictions like this were distributed to young children: Remembering a day that my youngest brother brought home a Weekly Reader predicting in bold headlines, that the earth would come to an end in seven years.

It came to pass: I never thought that I would see the day that I couldn't drink water out of the tap. This is a remembrance each time that I lug the cases of water in plastic bottles into the house.

It came to a head: Though I had seen how many Catholic kids in our school weren't allowed to associate with Protestants, I never thought I would see something like Jihad.

This also happened: The environmentalists had prophesized the effects of herbicides and pesticides. I never thought I would see the underground water springs disappear, but I did. It happened to our pond as the earth hardened around it. It also eliminated the neighbor's source of natural refrigeration for which they had used the coolness of the spring water.

Not in the remotest dreams: Google Earth, or photos of outer space from eight hundred light-years away

Most amazing medical advances: No where in conscious thought would I ever have imagined that masses of people could be herded in and out of hospitals with heart transplants and bypass surgeries. The field of medicine continues to astound.

Never imagined, but I'd like to know how this happens: That I would be someday using a computer, meeting people from all over the globe in the virtual world. More than this, to actually have a feeling fondness and affection for souls who I've never met in 3D. How does this transfer through air waves and electronics?

So here I am, saying my mantras and riding the tides of futureshock. Nothing will ever surprise me again. Or would that be on next year's list for New Year reflections?