An open letter to the year 2015Date: 12/29/2015 The symbolism for holidays always intrigues me. For instance, although I understand the tortuous route that has been taken over centuries to link the resurrection of Christ with a six-foot tall rabbit distributing candy, it’s truly the most involved case of six degrees of separation.
The imagery though of the New Year being a toddler who matures into a shuffling old man by the end of December makes a lot of sense to me.
With each New Year, as it is with the birth of a child, there is a tremendous sense of promise. We feel renewed to a certain sense.
But just like life, we tend to put greater attention on the new baby, than on the old codger.
The following is written in the waning days of the old year.
Dear 2015,
I bet you’re feeling it right now – every ache and pain of old age. You are waiting for the sweet oblivion of history and you have earned it.
What a year you have been. You’ve acted as a preview of coming attractions for the presidential race that Baby New Year will handle. Who could have predicted that a billionaire narcissist whose chief name recognition has been from a reality TV show would ever be seen as the frontrunner for the Republican Party?
You were full of surprises.
The same kind of surprise came with Sen. Bernie Sanders’ run for the presidency. What was initially seen as a joke has become a campaign that has attracted a lot of people who see fault in how the government handles its finances and our economic system.
Sanders and Trump are like the opposite sides of the Force. Yeah, I know 2015, people will send me letters telling me I’m an idiot for that last remark, but the transition was too tempting.
Hey, 2015 what about a “Star Wars” sequel that didn’t suck? That was a pleasant surprise – a tip of the hat to you there.
As a fan of animation, thanks you for giving me two films that made me laugh out loud: the new Spongebob movie as well as “The Minions.”
I needed the laughs, as 2015, you were pretty grim. This was an enormously sad year. The string of shootings in the United States that kept the controversy over gun control alive. The continuing incidences with some police that spurred examinations of racism, the attacks on a religion in a nation founded partly on religious tolerance and the terrorism both in this country and overseas were overwhelming.
What was just as worse was the realization we haven’t advanced on issues we should have. People are still moaning over marriage equality in 2015. Why? How has that negatively affected any straight person’s life?
In 2015 we saw that racism is still alive and well. If we can’t say something negative about a person who doesn’t look like us, then we say something negative about a person’s whose religion is different than ours.
I regret to say it 2015, but you will go down, as a year in which some people who call themselves Christian still haven’t figured out that Christ wasn’t a hater. Many other years have had the same problem.
Locally, 2015, you handed this ink-stained wretch of a reporter a story that just wouldn’t stop: the MGM casino. Boy howdy, 2015, for a bunch of savvy business people they sure made some interesting choices that was fun to report.
And somehow I think 2016 will give me the same gift.
Still, 2015, you were a good year personally to me. I didn’t lose my job. My wife put up with me for another year – 37 of them as you read this. I didn’t get sick – 2014 is on my you-know-what-list for that kidney stone I suffered. I was blessed with a great staff at work. I was more fortunate than many people. I appreciated my situation.
Thank you for that.
One last thing: did you have to make the I-91 viaduct repair so immense a traffic problem just in time for the Christmas travel?
I guess that was just a parting shot.
Agree? Disagree? Drop me a line at news@thereminder.com or at 280 N. Main St., East Longmeadow, MA 01028. As always, this column represents the opinion of its author and not the publishers or advertisers of this newspaper.
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