One of the most ironic, but most frequently heard, jokes after Katrina was this:

A flood came and a man had to climb onto the roof of his house. As the waters rose a neighbor in a rowboat appeared, and told him to get in. "No," replied the man on the roof, "the Lord will save me."

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Then a firefighter appeared in a speedboat. "Climb in!" shouted the firefighter. "No," replied the man on the roof, "The Lord will save me."

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A helicopter appeared and the pilot shouted that he would lower a rope to the man on the roof. "No," replied the man on the roof, "the Lord will save me."

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Eventually the man drowned and went to heaven, where he asked God why He hadn't helped him. "I sent a neighbor, a firefighter, and helicopter," said God. "What more do you want?"

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I was reminded of this joke last night when I reread some of the posts of 2007 on this blog. There were several times when I felt overwhelmed to the point of "drowning," but our Benevolent God sent one "rescuer" after another whose offer of help I accepted, so I'm still here, and I'm still smiling.

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I've lost so much this year with the death of my mother, the loss of my husband's sobriety, the estrangement from family members, the loss of our property manager, etc., but for every loss there has been a gift, a new friend, a new relationship, a new opportunity, a new outlook, a new insight. I feel truly blessed. I can conclude 2007 with a positive, hopeful attitude, and look forward to 2008 being even better.

.

I wish the

same for

all of you,

Dear Readers.

Out with the

Old, in with

the New!

Have a

GREAT 2008!