This year has been an enormous transition year for much of our city. High levels of unemployment, loss of property, property values and investments have all contributed to a state of unease and uncertainty, and people have been revamping their budgets and trying to figure out how to make their dollars stretch further.
Continuing to provide for our children and their welfare is every parent’s primary goal, and we sacrifice elsewhere in our lives to make sure our children are given all they need to grow and prosper.
It’s been a rough year for the many schools and businesses that provide education, care and services for our children. Budgets have been slashed and everyone is trying hard to hold on.
Looking ahead to 2011 we cross our fingers and hope we will return to prosperity and a better economic climate for everyone.
Personally, I have much to be grateful for. I have a super teenage daughter who is a dedicated student and a thoughtful human being. I have a terrific staff with which to collaborate on work I thoroughly enjoy. I have good health, loving friends and relations, and an appreciation of a lot that life has to offer. All this I was taught by my parents and I am trying to pass on this same love of living to my next in line. That’s what we, as parents, must do.
And now, I must thank the wonderful people I work with who make these magazines happen. I want to thank our writers — both staff and freelance — our design people and our distributors. I especially want to thank Tina, Cliff, Linda, On Man, Arthur, Irene, Yvonne, Leah, Vinnie, Nikki, Courtney, Joanna, Earl, Patti, Pat and Paul.
The biggest thank you of all goes to my partner in effort and intellect and my fondest collaborator, Sharon Noble. Without her, it wouldn’t be fun and it wouldn’t be possible.
Happy holidays to all of you. Happy New Year and thanks for reading!
