I should learn not to wait until Monday to write this column especially when there is the possibility of spending Monday morning shoveling snow. But all things shall pass, and soon it will be a new year: a time to turn over a new leaf, to open a new door and maybe even find the car keys. It’s also a time to make those New Year’s resolutions that spring from hope and optimism and usually end in defeat and disappointment. But the real lesson is that we keep trying. And each year we identify old and new ways to make ourselves and the world a little better.

Do you have any resolutions for this new year? Trying something new: writing a poem or a song even though it may not be heard by anyone else. Or to start walking or maybe just to get out of the house more often. Or to spend more time with family and friends which according to at least one survey is the most common resolution. They don’t have to be spectacular or memorable. They can be small steps, but steps nonetheless that will help us fulfill our purpose during this sacred and noble stage of our lives.

Thanks to all the folks who gave of themselves to make this Christmas season special for others. There are many examples from the small but meaningful gifts of cookies or special Christmas ties to church and community Christmas programs, to the Christmas Eve dinner; a community effort spearheaded by Tracy and Mark Linebarger that fed hundreds. And Meals on Wheels would like to thank those who made Christmas a little more special for the folks who receive home delivered meals: Mid-Columbia Medical Center and the Chamber of Commerce Ambassadors for providing the Christmas gifts and Gloria Vanderzanden from Regence Blue Cross for arranging the large donation of small live Christmas trees.

Tonight Truman Boler will have the Center bouncing with his “Country Gold” – he was snowed out earlier this month and hopefully it won’t happen again. And next week I am not sure who is playing until I get word from the one who shall not be named who books all the musical talent. All I can say is he always lines up good music. The music and dancing starts at 7:00 and there is no charge although donations are appreciated.

The correct answer to last week’s question, “What 1939 Christmas story was put to music and sung by Gene Autry in 1949?” was Rudolf the Red Nosed Reindeer. Of the many correct answers, the first name drawn and the winner of a bingo packet for Saturday Night bingo was Diana Weston.

For this week’s “Remember When” question, I am adding a little twist. There will be no wrong answers and all answers will be included in the drawing for either another Saturday bingo pocket or a box of chocolates – which ever sin you prefer. And the question? “What is your favorite New Year’s Eve memory?” Email your answer to mcseniorcenter@gmail.com, call 296-4788 or just drop off your recollection at the Center.

Well that is it; another day, another year and another decade. Until we meet again, tread carefully and keep the faith.

Year’s end is neither an end nor a beginning but a going on, with all the wisdom that experience can instill in us. ~Hal Borland

We spend January 1 walking through our lives, room by room, drawing up a list of work to be done, cracks to be patched. Maybe this year, to balance the list, we ought to walk through the rooms of our lives… not looking for flaws, but for potential. ~Ellen Goodman