Fully Present Post 50

As parents, mentors, and teachers, we do our best to instill the value of honesty and integrity in our children.  We use stories like “Pinocchio” to demonstrate the consequences of lying.  We share with them the fairy tale of the boy who cried wolf to remind them to keep their credibility in tact so that people will believe them when it’s important.  We teach them to let their word be their bond. We might even use Bible verses that associate lying with the father of lies, Satan, and how “…all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone…” (Revelation 21:8) But these days, it may to be difficult to instill these lessons.

I watched about two hours of Michael Cohen’s testimony before Congress last week.  Boy does he have a tale to tale about the criminal and immoral character of Donald J. Trump after 10 years working for him. But, he has to deal with credibility issues stemming from all the lies he told while he was loyal to his former boss.  He lied on bank loan applications. He lied about a myriad of things, some of which were to cover up the misdeeds and criminal behavior of our sitting president, both before and after the man took office.  So, now he wants people who believe him and the Republicans just kept pointing out the fact that he is a convicted liar.  Of course, the president got on television and said that no one should believe Cohen because Cohen is a convicted liar.  But what of this president himself? How does he have any credibility?

I had to laugh when a Republican congressman suggested that Congress should only call witnesses to testify who were not known and convicted liars.  I thought to myself, “Does such a person in Trump world even exist?”  They are all liars!  Integrity doesn’t seem to exist among them as a value.  Even Trump’s daughter, Ivanka, was proven to be a liar this week when she said in an interview that she and Jared received no special treatment to get their security clearances. He and his associates are caught on tape lying about so many things and so often that no one is surprised any more.  In fact, one newspaper counted over 8,000 lies Trump has told since his candidacy for president.  What kind of example are these people on the world stage setting for our children? 

Perhaps the best way to teach our children to be truthful today is to allow them to see our reaction to the abhorrent behavior happening before our eyes so that they can be exposed to and repulsed by it as opposed to being encouraged to emulate it.  We should let them hear the lies being exposed on a daily basis. Michael Cohen, Donald Trump, and his associates might be the real life and perhaps best examples and caution for our children against lying.

It’s so disappointing when someone who has a platform on the national stage completely blows the opportunity to do good for apparently selfish reasons.  If what the police are saying is true about Jessie Smollett staging an attack against himself, then this young man has done a lot of harm to the people he claims to care about.

The intersectionality that he represents as a gay black man in a nation that continues to struggle with both homophobia and racism doesn’t need a staged hate crime to draw attention to the animosity that is evident almost everywhere.  If what the police allege is true, then his ridiculous scheme only heightens the skepticism faced by true victims of hate crimes.  Crime victims may hesitate to report incidents for fear greater skepticism and doubts from law enforcement and juries.  The public will question the veracity of victims more often.  The reporting of these crimes will be much more cautious and rare. Crime victims and their families will loose. It’s already rare to for crimes against people of color to make the headlines; that might just get worse. Actual perpetrators will be given a pass to victimize marginalized individuals because they will realize that no one will believe the victims. 

Jessie Smollett has done real damage.  He has given the racist and homophobic Trump supporters the ability to call themselves victims of false accusations. They can claim that the left are out to get them and to make them look bad. 

I find it hard to believe the reports that say that Smollett staged the attack in the hopes for more pay on his television series.  That doesn’t make sense.  I think it’s more likely that he wanted to highlight the truth that gays and black men are targets of violence in this nation by white nationalists in the age of Trump.  I don’t doubt that this is true, but instead of helping to highlight the problem, he has only created more problems for those with credible complaints and given cover to the actual haters.  So, what is to be done?

First, since for the moment he is sticking to his story, let it play out in court.  If he never admits wrongdoing, then we move on with the ambiguity expecting that he will be a model citizen moving forward.  Some will believe him and others will not. He will have to find a way to live with the damage to his career, reputation, and doubts about his character.  If he admits to wrongdoing, then I hope he will apologize, admit to his true motive, seek therapy because his thinking is clearly amiss, and then find a way to redeem himself through community service and positive activism. Whatever the outcome, I hope he is able to find his way back to the stage as he is a very talented singer and actor.

One of the things I love about working at a university is the opportunity to listen to and consider innovative ideas. On February 5th I heard the most radical idea for our society from a speaker representing the Black Lives Matter Movement. When I read through the beliefs they espouse on their website, I feel empowered and moved. But, apparently every belief is not found on the website. I had to really think about the unpublished call from the Black Lives Matter Movement to abolish the police and prisons, too.

This idea was presented by the one of the organizers of Black Lives Matter who I invited to campus as part of my year long series on social and political movements in the country. I was right there with her as she talked about the tenants of the Movement and their activism until she described the Movement as a group of abolitionists who want to abolish the police and prisons.

I do understand and agree that black bodies are too often the target of police and the criminal justice system. I listened to her argument that because modern day policing has its roots in slave catching, that black and brown bodies will always be unjustly targeted, killed, and incarcerated by the current system. So, their answer is to abolish the entire system. In one of my more private moments with the organizer, I asked her who or what would replace the police? Her answer was simple: the community.

I have been thinking about this for weeks and talking it over with people I believe care about society and social justice as much as I do and none of us can fathom the idea that completely abolishing the police and prisons is a viable solution to police abuse, police brutality and an unfair criminal justice system that operates to criminalize and incarcerate black and brown people at higher rates and for longer sentences.

Two things are clear to me and to everyone I spoke to about the situation. First, we cannot continue with the current system where police are far more likely to kill black people in encounters. It seems that a white mass shooter is more likely to be taken away alive in handcuffs than an unarmed black man who poses no threat except that which resides in the imagination of the police officer. And a judicial system where judges routinely give black and brown people longer prison systems than white people for the same crime has to be replaced.

The second thing we agreed on was that we were for police reform and criminal justice reform rather than abolition. None of us can envision a system where the community enforces social and civil rules. Humans put laws or social rules in place to deter humans of ill-will from stealing, killing, or destroying the property of others in the shared community with impunity. In a small village, the rules are enforced by the chief. That might work just fine when everyone knows each other and the villagers endorse the chief as legitimate and just. But in a community made up of people who hardly know each other, where people move in and out, and where access to firearms abound, I’m not sure the community is actually capable of policing itself.

In the absence of a trustworthy police force, the biggest bully with the greatest fire power rules the neighborhood. There are countless examples of how miserable life can be for average people in the absence of police who are willing and able to fairly enforce the law. Look at Central America today with thousands of women and children fleeing countries where gangs have literally taken over and continually exploit the weak. I heard a Central American woman who made it to the U.S. tell her story about being gang raped multiple times and then fleeing with her daughter because that daughter was becoming a teenager and was now vulnerable to the same treatment. This is an example of a failed law enforcement system. In absence of police, the community wasn’t strong enough to take over.

Our police system isn’t great for communities of color, but it isn’t a complete failure either. We know that money or bribes can corrupt a police force and that racial bias is also a corrupting factor. What we need is a complete overhaul of the our police system, one that ferrets out the police of questionable character. There are too many who are racially biased and morally corrupt. In the prison system, we have to remove the racial bias permitted by judicial discretion and the profit motive created by establishing privately owned prisons. No prison should ever be for-profit! I’m for restorative justice rather than imprisonment for most people. Only people who are a real danger to society should be in prison. The others should be subject to fines, community service, repayment of loss property, mental health and addiction treatment, and education.

While we are not facing the complete collapse of a police system capable of enforcing the laws to protect its citizens like in Central America, we do need to pay better attention to who we recruit as police officers and how we train them. I’m for police reform and prison reform, not the complete abolition of the police and prisons. I’ve seen what that looks like, and I don’t think its better. It is in fact, much worse. My fear is that if we abolish the police and prisons that Canada will need to build a wall to keep us out.

I

I’m asking myself this week if our American culture has become one of swift public condemnation when presented with offense from a person’s distant past. Is there ever the possibility for redemption? And if there is, when do we allow for it?

I admit to feeling disgust over the revelation that the Virginia governor Ralph Northam wore black face or dressed as a Khan member for a picture that appeared in his medical school year book back in the 1980s. The unabashed racism he displayed back then is appalling and deeply offensive. And his later confession that he isn’t sure that it was him in the photo didn’t help at all. That was merely an admission that he could have, might have, or would have done such a thing. It spoke to his racist mindset back then. Inside, I screamed at the television: “You’re NOT redeeming yourself at all with those comments.”

But I might have thought differently about the possibility for redemption had he sincerely apologized for his small-minded and harmful thinking and behaviors back then. He should have explained how and why his thinking had evolved and then pointed to the many things he has done since then to further civil rights and racial justice in Virginia. I understand that he has a pretty good public policy track record. In fact, 58% of blacks in Virginia don’t won’t him to resign. If he were to do the things I suggested, then I would say redemption is called for and Virginians could reasonably let the man continue as governor. I hope he will do this. And then there was the bombshell of his lieutenant governor Justin Fairfax, just days later being accused of sexual assault. Really?

In cases like his, we must be even slower to condemn. Our swift condemnation is dangerous after accusations of sexual abuse has become the norm. We have an investigative and judicial process that can and should be followed before we start condemning people and in his case, trying to throw him out of office. The alternative is that we condone the immediate ruin of any and everyone’s lives and careers based on mere allocations. None of us wants to be condemned without the ability to defend ourselves. Last year, I learned first hand how destructive false accusations can be and how easily they can be made by people who are motivated to make them. We must exercise caution. For now, I think Fairfax should remain in office and submit to a thorough investigation. In fact, he is asking the FBI to conduct one.

We’ve become too quick to condemn. I’ll be glad if we take a collective breath and consider our own past mistakes, the ways in which we have evolved, the good we have done since our change of heart and attitudes, and how we too believe in the possibility of redemption. And finally, I hope we return to a reliance on due process for those accused of wrong doing before we condemn them.

I didn’t even bother to ask the question this year. Should we host a Super Bowl party or even a small gathering? I already knew that I’d be on my own if I had asked because the party days for my introverted husband are truly over except as a grudging concession to me. So, I only hold out for the truly important gatherings and parties like family holidays, milestone birthdays, family wedding receptions, a few events, and retirements. The invitations to such gatherings have slowed too, as our circle of friends have aged, passed, or moved away. I’m questioning whether I should push to stay active in party life and gatherings. Should I accept invitations and just go without him? I no longer drive at night, so I’d have to call an Uber. Is it worth it? Would he feel abandoned?

The truth is that I am no party animal. I’ve never been the life of the party or the center of attention. I’m not the social butterfly flitting from one person to another. But I used to attend a lot of parties and gatherings. I enjoy a party or gathering the way most introverts do. If I’m not the host, then I find a nice spot, flop down and enjoy the company of the few people who join me in my nice corner of the room or banquet table. If there is a game to be played, I gladly play it. If there is dancing, I go to the dance floor and dance. I’m especially fond of line dances. But lately, I’ve been declining most invitations and offering few.

I’m really good at throwing parties and putting together gatherings. I have everything a party planner needs for festive decorations and serving just about everything. I have recipes at the ready and plenty of party games. I have every level of party and event clothing, ranging from fun to the most formal. I’m all dressed up with no where to go. As a host, I’m attentive to the needs of my guests. I enjoy facilitating the fun of others. But, my personal party planning days are becoming increasingly infrequent and I do miss them.

I am coming to accept that this is a concession I make to my introverted husband’s changing sensibility. I’ve noticed how he has resorted to slipping out and hiding away in his office or our bedroom, refusing to socialize for more than a few minutes. I’ve found him in bed sleeping during a gathering. I can’t even get him to open door to greet guests. Parties and even small gatherings have become torture for him. At banquets, he wants to head for the door at the first opportunity. He refuses to dance. He looks sullen and disengaged. He pretty much makes it clear that he doesn’t want to be there.

So, as the Rams take on the Patriots today, I’ll set out the chicken wings, the chips and dip, the cheese and crackers, and a vegetable platter. I’ll even use my football party platters, but it will all be set for just us two. I’ll still enjoy the game, the half-time show, and especially the Super Bowl commercials, but I admit that I will miss the laughter, the hoots, and the hollers of friends and family. This is my new normal and part of the give and take of marriage as we age and evolve together.

I won’t live forever, but I do care about the future quality of life for people whom I will eventually leave behind. I care about the animals who struggle to live through the virus humans have become to the their very survival. After watching a “60 Minutes” episode about plastic, I was moved to examine my daily habits and I realized that I’m a real part of the problem. So, I’ve decided to make some changes.

I already drive a hybrid and after owning my car for 5 years, I’ve only just reached 28,000 miles. So, I’m not a big driver and my next car in 2024 will be electric. I’m already pretty good about consolidating my trips and making a circle so as to minimize mileage. I carpool when it’s feasible and use public transportation to go to Los Angeles or San Diego whenever possible. Living where I do, nothing I need is in walking distance and I don’t own a bicycle any longer. Frankly, I doubt I would want to cycle anywhere with these roads. Hopefully, this is not true for others.

Several years ago, we switched to cloth napkins for breakfast and dinner. I use paper at work, but hadn’t considered until now that I could carry one of my cloth napkins to work with me along with my lunch which is carried in one of my fancy lunch pails–no paper bags for me. If I must use a paper napkin, I’m going to cut them in half as was suggested by an environmental blogger. We only purchase paper towels that are perforated into halves to cut down on waste. However, I do sometimes overuse them, so I’ll be more aware of the times when a towel will do. When I’m out and about, the paper towels and napkins used to clean or dry my hands or to wipe up food spills can be composted and so I’ll do better with that, too. It won’t hurt me to keep a bag in my office and car to simply collect those and put them into my composter at home.

We already recycle paper, glass, aluminum and some plastics. Our magical kitchen trashcan (because it opens with a sensor and surprises guests) has two sections already built in and is convenient for recycling. My husband exchanges the recycling items for cash. It’s rewarding to use it to purchase our live Christmas tree for the living room each year. However, I’d like to switch to a quality fake one next year like the one we have in the family room. I might just win this argument this year since it’s become increasingly difficult for my husband to get down to water that live tree everyday. Thankfully, we agree on other recycling matters. We have a lovely counter size composter to collect food waste. My husband found on Amazon. Each week, he empties the contents into the huge composter in the backyard that we got for free from the city. I love that kitchen composter because it also has a filter built in to guard against odors and it works great.

While it sounds like we’re doing a lot, I know that we should be doing more. Water is a huge issue in draught stricken California, so we take 5 minute showers and collect the warm- up water in pails to water plants. I skip one shower on weekends. My son, a former Peace Corp volunteer, only showers every other day as he learned that it was actually acceptable and even healthier. So, I gave up one day on the weekend. I switched from disposable bottled water to personal Britta water bottles. I keep one by my bedside and one at work. Beyond the initial purchase of the Britta water bottles at Target and the periodic purchase of replacement filters, I think they are a great alternative to plastic water bottles. I also learned that a car wash uses less water than washing the car at home because the water is recycled. I purchased a pass for $12.99 per month that allows me unlimited car washes. We only wash full loads of clothes and our garden has a drip system. But I am in a constant fight with my husband over washing dishes methods. Dishwashers save water if you don’t wash them before putting them in the dishwasher. This is a constant battle in our house. My husband rinses everything to excess and washes too many dishes by hand. He doesn’t believe in soaking, so the constant running of water to loosen food drives me crazy.

I’m determined to do better as I learn better. So much is about changing simple habits like remembering to bring my reusable bags at the grocery store, Target, and even places where they don’t charge you for bags like, TJ Maxx. I’ll try to be better about turning off lights when I leave a room, eating less beef, and composting that paper towel or napkin that I accidently use to dry my hands.

I love technology and I’m excited by technological advances. In fact, I want to make a yearly pilgrimage to the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas when I retire. But while I am completely fascinated by innovation and the promise of greater efficiency, I realized that I am woefully falling behind each year in my utilization of it.

At work this past week, we had a training facilitated by one of our computer techs to maximize our use of the email and calendar system. He admitted from the start of the training that we will likely only use about 10% of the features available, but that was normal. I was awestruck by some of the features he showed us and even incorporated a couple of them right away. It was crazy to realize during the training that my computer and operating system were actually obsolete in terms of the software he presented. Because of all the moving and reorganizations that occurred, my scheduled upgrades had been missed. And I never noticed! I could do everything I thought I wanted or needed to do. Until the tech started showing us features that my old system wasn’t capable of doing, I would have continued on with my old computer and Windows 10 operating system. So, I’m scheduled to get a whole new computer and the newest operating system in the next couple of weeks.

But this just brings me to my point. It is easy to get stuck and to fall behind when it comes to technology and to never even realize what you’re missing. A couple of summers ago, I laughed at my aunt’s flip phone and then showed her all the cool features and things I could do with my smart phone. Thankfully, she now has a smart phone and I hope she’s utilizing at least some of the conveniences it provides. I find with each passing year, that I’m not much better than my aunt because I still have an iPhone 6. I’ve refused to spend the money to upgrade to latest and greatest because I’ve grown accustomed to the one I have. I don’t know what I’m missing by not upgrading to the newest technology. Admittedly, I’ve avoided going into the Apple Store to see because I’d probably leave with a new phone. But my aunt and I are not alone in our tendency to get stuck.

As I begin preparations for my family’s reunion in 2020, I’m finding that we have to prepare for family members on all levels of technology use. I actually stuffed and mailed 136 letters to family members who lacked email addresses. Most with emails, didn’t respond for days, if at all. I learned from one person with an email address that she didn’t know how to scan and attach documents to an email and so would rather just mail things to me. We are preparing to receive payment via check, Pay Pal and Zelle. I had family members email me to tell me that certain family members don’t do technology at all. So, expecting everyone to register on-line for the reunion is a no-go. Others told me they preferred text messages over emails. We are in a constant state of flux as technology progresses and individuals move along at their own comfortable pace.

My daughter, who is a technology master, insisted that we share everything related to our reunion planning on Google Docs and Google Sheets and I’m fine with that, but I had a moment of pause the other day when I opened Google Sheets to record expenses for postage stamps and copies only to find that the expenses had already been posted. I felt like the bank and Google Sheets had become “Big Brother” knowing and recording for me these expenses even though I had not connected the two accounts. It’s like that feeling you get when you’re shopping on-line and the item you looked at but didn’t purchase mysteriously shows up in your Facebook feed. After the shock wore off, I thought, well, this was going to save me a lot of time. But when I mentioned what occurred to my daughter, she informed me that the expenditures showed up on her family reunion bank account app and she entered the expense on Google Sheets. I was both relieved and disappointed.

Which brings me to apps. I have so many of them. Every good idea, including online banking, seems to become an app for me. I counted and then recounted the apps on my phone for this blog because I couldn’t believe that I actually have 125 of them. That is six pages of apps! So, today, I’m going old school, Martha Steward housekeeping on my cell phone apps. If I haven’t used it or don’t need it, I’m getting rid of it. I might also do the same with the 1,714 photos I have stored on my phone.

I love technology, but it is nearly impossible to keep up with.

I’m tired of hearing the talking point, “Build the wall!” Even more ridiculous was the promise that Mexico was going to pay for it. First, Trump said Mexico was going to gladly write a check and now he claims they’ll pay for it indirectly with a promised new trade deal. Until then, the president is demanding that Congress allocate American tax dollars to pay for it. My response is, “Oh hell no!” Walls don’t work. Desperate people will use a ladder to climb over it, dig a tunnel to go under it, or drill right through it. At the heart of the issue is why people are coming and perhaps our tax dollars can be used to get to the root of the problem.

Human migration is as old as humanity itself. Intelligent and able-bodied people will flee less than ideal circumstances in one location to a location that offers a better opportunity for economic survival and/or safety. And who can blame migrants for fleeing war or violence or persecution or oppression or starvation? Proverbs 27:12 says, “A prudent man sees danger and takes refuge; but the simple pass on, and suffer for it.”

The Evangelicals supporting this president and his call for the wall should know better than anyone that migration is a strategy that is repeated throughout the Bible with the righteous fleeing oppression, starvation, and persecution. They should recall their Sunday School lesson about the walls of Jericho that came tumbling down found in Joshua 6: 1-27. The fearmongering strategy put forth by this Administration is nothing but a proposed waste of tax payer dollars and a valed nod to racism against brown people.

I’m glad that some media outlets are countering the misrepresentation of statistics, gross exaggerations, and outright lies about the people seeking refuge and the danger we are in because we do not have a wall. The fact is that we are not being overrun by murderers, rapists and human traffickers. Drugs are coming in through legal ports of entry and through the mail to meet the demand of Americans for those drugs. The statistics show that fewer immigrants commit murder and rape than Americans. The few human traffickers won’t be deterred by a wall.

Here’s my point. If my family was facing the kinds of challenges these Central Americans are facing in their home countries, I would flee as well. I would hope that the 5.7 billion dollars we want to spend on a stupid wall would instead go towards helping to shore up the countries affected by our demand for drugs and finding ways to end the insatiable demand for drugs by Americans. People don’t migrate unless they are desperate. And a wall will never stop a desperate person who is fleeing for her life and for the lives of her precious children.

Already? Really? That was my reaction to the news that Senator Elizabeth Warren has established one of those interest committees for would be presidential candidates. The campaigning for the 2020 Presidential election is ramping up and I’m not ready. These last few years with Trump at the helm and then the resistance that successfully flipped the House of Representatives have left me exhausted. But I’d better take an energy drink and get ready.

What is clear to me is that our nation cannot afford another four years of Donald Trump. I’m amazed how he has lowered our expectations for what a president should be. His anti-intellectual, anti-law, anti-information, anti-immigrant, anti-truth, anti-news, and anti-decency and anti-morality has not only embarrassed our nation in the eyes of the world, but he has lowered the standards of common decency and further divided us. He has put the earth itself in further danger with his anti-environmental policies. So, I will gear up to support the candidacy of a person who actually deserves my respect and support. A hundred million Americans showed up to vote in the mid-terms. More will need to show up to elect someone new because of the way the electoral college works.

The next president won’t be perfect (no one is), but he or she will need to be intelligent, articulate, honest, experienced, and thoughtful. He or she will need a respect for the rule of law, knowledge of history, an appreciation for diversity, and a thoughtful approach to the environment. Only a candidate with these qualifications will deserve my support.

I hope the last two years have taught my fellow Americans that character matters and their votes matter. It’s been eye opening and disheartening to hear some fellow Christians continue to support this president who is clearly against pretty much everything Jesus taught us to be in relationship to God and our fellow human beings. I doubt Evangelical Christians understand how much their stance has revealed their hypocrisy and damaged the message of the Gospel. They have become a stumbling block.

I’ve also seem how gullible other Americans can be, blindly believing the lies of Fox News, the president, conservative radio hosts, and friends. Because of their own prejudice, ignorance, and fear of others, they cower behind this wall of lies that surrounds them. Trump, Fox News and conservative radio prey on these vulnerable people. With so much fear and hope for a return to a fictional past, the truth can’t penetrate their wall of lies. They will likely remain closed off while we tear down the wall with this next election.

The 2020 Presidential campaign is on our doorstep. This year I’ll be listening and watching carefully those who aspire to be the next president. The bar has been raised because we’ve all experienced the consequences of lowering the bar for the highest office in the world. It is clear that a huge fight is coming for the soul of our nation and the meaning of the presidency. Despite my political weariness, I’ve resolved to take a deep breath and gear up.

I have a wonderful son in law who just became a U.S. citizen last year. One of the things I appreciate most about him is that he brings a different perspective to discussions about life, health, and especially money. For Christmas this year, he gifted me the book, “12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos” by Jordan B. Peterson (whom he admires). He vowed to pay me $60 or $5 per rule to read the book and write a reflection on each rule. So, my first resolution is to read and reflect on this book in 2019 and collect that $60.

My second resolution is to find a way to improve my sleep. I’m on a quest to sleep more than 5-6 hours a night, convinced that getting more sleep will help me lose more weight and improve my overall health. I’m open to suggestions because everything the experts have suggested thus far has had very little affect on me. I’m grateful that I don’t wake up sleepy and I don’t have trouble concentrating during the day. But sleep is essential to a healthy body and a healthy brain. Sleep is an important time of healing and restoration for the body and mind. I simply need more of it.

My third resolution is to pay off my daughter’s student loan this year. I took on the loan because of her ongoing health struggles that sometimes causes gaps in her employment. Too many deferments only caused the loan to grow over the years and I wanted to release her from this added burden. Financial planners don’t like it when people who should be saving for retirement take on their children’s debts. However, I’m on track with my retirement savings and taking on this debt really only meant not taking another vacation to a far away land for a few years. Besides that, I don’t like the terms of this loan. The interest rate is high at 5.125% and making extra payments below a certain amount does not go strictly reduce the principle. So, I will be happy to get rid of it this year.

My forth resolution is to put my heart and soul into the planning of our 2020 family reunion in San Diego, California. At our 60th reunion in Charleston, South Carolina this past July, I volunteered to host the reunion in California since it has been 20 years. My goals in taking this on are to strengthen the commitment of younger family members to continue the reunion tradition that my grandmother started, create more interaction and stronger connections between family members at the reunion, and to establish a digital information transition process to pass along to the next host. I’m looking forward to building a California host family team to work on the reunion. The creative juices are already flowing and my daughter and I began the work of developing our infrastructure during her holiday visit.

My fifth and final resolution is to continue to do my best everyday to: a) Love and show love to my family and friends; b) Contribute to society as a citizen of the country and world; c) Make healthy eating choices; d) Exercise 5 days a week; e) Save money; and f) Continue writing my blog.

Here’s to a very Happy New Year!