I, for one, am more than glad to see the ass end of 2008. Life is a roller coaster ride, to be sure, and if the past four years have been something of a corkscrew, this past year was the barf-inducing death spiral. In all honesty, this past year was not the worst year of my life; that particular distinction will always belong to 1995-96. Nonetheless, between losing my job, losing our house, and having all that happen in conjunction with an economic meltdown that might suck us all under, it was not one whit of fun.
There were moments of pleasure and joy along the way: we had a great mini-vacation to Montreal at the beginning of the summer, and this Christmas just past was one of the most enjoyable ones we’ve had since Charlotte was born. Charlotte learned how to skate last winter, made her stage debut in the spring, and discovered the fun of outdoor day camp in the summer. She and I enjoyed the Boston Fourth of July fireworks from the roof of the Museum of Science’s parking garage and went to her first orchestra concert together just a couple of weeks ago. The three of us made regular visits to our favorite Boston attractions like the Museum of Fine Arts and the Isabella Stuart Gardner Museum. And we even got to see the world-record-holding pumpkin-throwing trebuchet warming up to defend its title.
So it wasn’t all bad, but the stress of the last several months has been hard on all three of us. Having to leave the Big Red House was not the least bit enjoyable. The only saving grace has been that the house we’re renting is plesant and very well suited to us. It’s in the same town, so Charlotte did not have to change schools and other small practicalities of life were not disrupted by relocating. In all honesty, the house we’re in feels more like home than the Big Red House ever did, and if our fortunes change, I’d just as soon stay for a while. I miss my perfect kitchen, but otherwise the loss is not so much about the place itself as it is about the financial decline. That we are just another statistic in the wave of foreclosures overwhelming the country is cold comfort indeed.
I could not have predicted any of these things at the beginning of 2008, and so I won’t even begin to speculate on the course of events for 2009. On a bigger scale, I will also be glad to see the ass end of George W. Bush in three weeks, but I do not believe we will see much in the way of “change” from Barack Obama. Even if he is the second-worst president in the history of the United States, he will be an improvement over Bush, but I think there are going to be a lot of disappointed people on the “progressive” side of the political spectrum. What that will mean at the personal level is hard to determine, but it suggests that our financial struggles won’t abate any time soon.
For now, all I can do is focus on what happens today or tomorrow and let the balance of 2009 settle as it may. I know that there will be tiny happinesses all along the way, and perhaps the occasional giant one. Ditto for the anxieties, anguishes, and hurdles. Only when this day comes around again in 2010 will I know what sort of year 2009 turned out to be.
I have no idea how I missed the whole moving event, but I did. I’m sorry to hear you guys got kicked in the ass by this whole ridiculous mess. Here’s a lift of a glass that 2009 is a kinder and less sucktastic year for all.