day 80: so long farewell, auf weidersehen good-bye

12.31.09 (posted 01.01.10) - can you believe it? it's the last day of 2009 and the "(n)oughts". wow. in a few hours we start not only a new year but another decade.

for the past couple of weeks i've been viewing and reading retrospectives. the one that struck me the most was a photo montage compiled by the boston globe of 50 photos of the past 10 years. (warning: some images displayed on the montage include graphic content). what a mix of emotions i had after seeing them and recalling how i felt when i first heard about these events. this has been a extremely somber and often times devastating decade.

in many ways, i think i truly grew up these past 10 years. it's been significant in so many ways. i moved from the only place i knew as "home" to settle 3,000 miles in a new city. i started my first "real" job and worked my way up the career ladder. i got married to my long time boyfriend and we began our new lives together. i survived one of the most horrific events in the u.s. in its recent history. i learned and explored new interests, hobbies, and was given a chance to explore new parts of the world i only dreamt of visiting in the past. 

with these ever constant changes in my life, perhaps i am not surprised that 2009 turned out the way it did. this was a particularly difficult year for me and many of my family and friends. many were laid off or had their hours cut, struggled to keep up with their bills, health turned for the worst, or lost loved ones.

i used to joke that everything was going swimmingly until "mj" (michael jackson) died and then everything was downhill from there. really though... in all seriousness... the world was in a bad funk this year and negative jujus/vibes/aura/energy seemed to permeate in every crevice of the universe. 

however, what 2009 and most importantly what the 2000s has taught me is that amidst all this devastation one cannot discount humanity's perseverance and resilience. during great times of lost, it's always interesting how things come into perspective and we redefine what is truly important in our lives.  

so as we close the chapter on this year and decade, let's be thankful for what we do have and cherish the happy memories. cheers to a new beginning, new opportunities, new thinking, and new hope.

here's a couple of pictures i thought captured my feelings of the day. first is my hubby walking back to our apartment and the second one is of my lovely friend, kina.