New Year Wishes

Were I Queen of Everything, here is I what I would like for next year.

• Good health for everyone I know, several of whom have histories that make this wish particularly important.

• Reasonable weather. I’ll deal with the occasional snowstorm, but I would be very happy to never see a year like the one two years before in which we experienced a tornado, microburst, hurricane, earthquake (okay I didn’t feel it, but it did happen), and freak snowstorm that knocked out our power for a week. And no power here means no water and no heat.

• Time with all of my favorite people, near and far. Of course daughter and family in the hills of New Jersey, and son in Rhode Island. And did you catch that, high school friends? Andrea in Hawaii, Sheila in West Virginia, Chris in Maryland?    And yes, I know not all wishes are practical.

• For my husband's year to be as healthy and productive as last year's with his contributions to the workings of our small town, not to mention the recent awakening of his inner artist.

•  For my own days to be as rich with retirement fun as they were last year, filled with my writing group, local speakers, bus trips, BIG trips, golf (unskilled though it may be), many breakfasts with friends, and new things to learn and think about.

• For all our children’s endeavors to be successful:  Our son’s carriage house renovation, his new other job as the Director of Providence’s Planting Program, our daughter’s days as the mother of three very busy boys to sail smoothly, my son-in-law to find a happy balance between traveling for his job and time at home, and for my son’s significant other to finish her Masters. And of course for all my grandson’s teams – and there are many, basketball, soccer, and lacrosse – to be, if not victorious, definitely fun.

• And last, but most definitely not least, for an agent, and then publisher, to leap from her chair, clutching my book Earthly Needs (or her laptop holding the file to my book) shouting, “Call this author immediately! I’ve found gold!”