So Close…

This morning, as I was beginning to think of what would be relevant to the new year’s wishes I’d like to send out, I was reminded of previous such essays that were often mired with an end-of-year tragedy. There was the Lockerbie plane crash, the earthquake in Bam, the Tsunami, to name just a few tragedies that took place in the very last week of the year. I am sure that if I were to sift through the annals of recent history, there would, sadly, be similar disasters taking place throughout the year, but the last week has different implications. Perhaps because January 1 is in sight, we’re just so close to a new beginning that it feels like we’re holding our breath for this very last stretch… we’re psyching ourselves into a positive disposition, a hopeful fresh start, we’re pushing that barometer as high as we can so that the new year, the new page, the new path can keep us afloat for the 365 days to follow.

So here we were, December 27, and I was silently thinking, with perked ears, that though we were recovering from personal tragedies, this last Monday to Friday was running relatively smoothly with no major turbulence on a global scale. Seemed as if nature and the warmongers had taken a break, and we might be able to usher in the new year with smoothed sheets, a clean slate.

Well… almost. Until news of Benazir Bhutto’s assassination spread. Goodness gracious...
I am not about to compare this incident with others mentioned here in terms of the enormity of casualties, or any other comparisons, for that matter. Frankly, that’s not my point, I’m not keeping count (that would be too depressing). I will, however, compare it to others as a destabilizing force. And in our current day and age, this not only affects friends currently in Pakistan - and I don't want to think of what's going through their minds - but the domino effect on the widespread geo-political web in the region.

Sigh… we were so close… guess we’re going to have to work a little harder to keep that page clean and bright and light…