New Year 2008

This is one of Rodin's sculptures in the Met. I forgot to write down its name, but it appears to be a woman resting under a significant burden--an appropriate image of the world on this first day of 2008. Even as I share in this burden, I want to acknowledge all the love and life I enjoy right now. I'm very grateful for

• My older (heh heh) brothers Bob, Paul, and Gene, their children and their children's children and even a few children's children's children (!);
• My own children Peggy, Sally, Katie, and Tom; my grandchildren Ian (and his wife, Medea, and her mom, Penny), Sean (and his girlfriend, Laura), Joe, Sam, Annie, George, and Claire;
• My friends near and far, some of whom go back to our childhood on the permafrost;
• My lovely warm dwelling in a lovely warmish (compared with, say, Fargo) town, and my charming, generous, helpful, friendly neighbors;
• My job (I know I bad mouth it all the time for its capacity to eat up so many hours of daylight, but still....), my coworkers, and the feistiest little boss ever;
• The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority whose buses and trains take me where I have to go and back for hardly any money, plus all the marvelous taxis and their drivers, especially Uncle Mad, who is truly wild and wonderful;
• Whole Foods, Safeway, Giant, Kramerbooks, Sancerre, the Georgetown Wine Shop down the hill, 7Eleven, Sara's Market, Annie's Paramount Steak House and the swell waiters there, the Tombs, Marvelous Market, the deli on the corner of Q and Connecticut, Lebanese Taverna, and Five Guys Famous Burgers and Fries...if they haven't got it, I probably don't need it;
• The medical people at GWU and Johns Hopkins and every single person from scientists to customer service reps at Cochlear, Inc.;
• My blogger friends, most of whom, except for LRH, I haven't yet had the pleasure to meet in person;
• Washing, DC (as Sally used to call it) for its beauty and the entertainment value of our national "government" figures; and
• Last but definitely not least, my Nucleus Freedom cochlear implant--the gift that keeps on giving me more and richer hearing....how can I describe the constant joy of being able to hear people talking again, the birds singing outside my windows, traffic sounds, music, phone calls, announcements on the bus and train, on and on?
• Jane, who helped me make sense of deafness long ago and has a great job in the future;
  
• Cathy and Squeak--Best Friends Forever; and
• My beloved folding bicycle.