Once again, I am amazed that another year has slipped away. I find it to be a nearly impossible task to take an entire year's personal events, growth and development, layered with national highlights and lowlights, and squeeze in the ever-mounting global events, and then boil it all down to a couple summarizing sentences. So you know what? I'm not even going to try.

I always feel melancholy this time of year because there is an unspoken pressure to say goodbye to 2007 in a way that feels like tax preparers closes the books. I hate goodbyes. "Have I forgotten anything...any receipts, any expenses, events, people, because very soon this book is going to be CLOSED. "You don't want old 2007 stuff cluttering up your life...just pack it away and let's all move into the fabulous 2008." This is just not my style.

If I were in charge of the world, the New Year's Eve celebrations wouldn't concentrate so much on, dare I say it, scribblinge the same old same New Year's resolutions on napkins, but rather be a unique opportunity to surround ourselves with important and significant people in our lives and talk about the tremendous gifts of being able to be together for yet another year. Instead of making that all-too cliché list of "to dos" for the new year, make a real investment in one another by having deep, rich, philosophical discussions with one another about the year, how events changed our lives and how we reacted to those changes. Having this kind of dialogue might be a real pleasant or unexpected surprise, for suddenly we begin to understand the real resolutions we need to strive for in the next year. Let the 2008 resolutions come to you in their own time, when you are ready to hear and accept them. This is the only way our lives can be changes in serious, real and lasting way.

Rather than photo snapshots that visually remind us of the famous faces that represent the highs and lows of the year, I would like to present to these "word snapshots" that, to me, tell the story of 2007.

Promise. Hope. Growth. Recovery. Rebuilding. Encouragement. Gratitude. Timid trust. Heartbreak. Joy. Confusion. Clarity. Synchronicity. Simplicity. Basics. Friendships. Trust. Faith. Belief. Community. Reflection. Support. Commitment. Fortitude. Fate Love.

So, after much reflection and dialogue, I've understood that one of my 2008 resolutions has to do with my life: legacy

Legacy. This concept came up earlier in 2007 one typical afternoon while I was sitting with my 10-year-old daughter helping her with her homework. She was doing a book report on an autobiography. One of the questions she had to answer about the person she was reading about was, "What was this person's legacy?" So my daughter asked me, "Mom, what is a legacy?" I told her someone's legacy is what a person is known for even many, many years after their death. Seeing she needed more explanation, I told her it's a person's greatest work while on this Earth, the thing(s) they worked the hardest for or on, their greatest passions, the true purpose of someone's life and their greatest mark on the world and other humans. It's how people remember another after they have passed away, I told her. That seemed to be sufficient information for her to answer her question, but as soon as she was done with the report, she put her pencil down, closed her book, looked me squarely in the eye and said, "Mom, what do you want your legacy to be?" I was speechless for what felt like an eternity, but in those seconds that I hesitated, I knew that I had some soul searching to do. I finally said to her, "Honey, you and Olivia are my greatest legacies." Emily was humbly pleased to hear me say that and just smiled.

But I knew it wasn't just as simple as that. I understood that never being asked this question, there were deeper and richer truths, layers I knew I had to uncover beginning in that moment. My children are indeed my greatest legacies, but how they specifically remember me is an entirely different matter. I am just beginning to understand the specifics qualities I want not just my children, but everyone who knows me to immediately think of and always remember whenever I am thought of. But I have a lot of work on cultivating a few qualities that, well, let's just say have been overtaken by beautiful, but overbearing plants in my life garden.

Sometimes to get to what you want, you first have to answer what you don't want. I don't want my my kids or anyone who knows me to remember me for being a great housekeeper, or for always getting the bills out on time, or for even cooking descent meals. I don't want to be known for dressing my children well. I don't want to be known for having the carpets in my home always vacuumed, or too busy to find time for the people in my life that I love so much.

I want my children, my family and my friends to see me, and remember me, as someone who loved to laugh, loved even more to play, loved her toys so much she just couldn't give them away. I want to be known as someone who was deeply passionate about everything she believed in, whether it was the circle, my garden, the honeybee, my animals, God, Jesus, The Iron Giant, Spiderman, Gerry Butler, the Earth, other humans, the planets, or the future. I would hope my legacy would be that I always found time to play with my kids, talk to them, or just have time for them in whatever way they chose to spend it with me. I want my children to remember me as someone who listened to her music loud and sang with it. I hope one of my legacies is that I raised descent and loving, compassionate human beings that make the world a better place. My love is my writing and believing that my writing may inspire others, even one person at a time, makes it all worthwhile is something I want my children and those who know me to fully understand how important this is to me. I am a hero lover, Spiderman in particular, and a lover of heroic behavior, a believer in the good in all of us, and how the simple things in life are very often what bring us the greatest joy. My legacy is simply this: love with all your soul, be grateful for everything and everyone, follow your passions with all your heart, believe in the higher power who loves you more than you can possibly imagine, and let the bubbling waters of life take you downstream for a journey that will be the best journey of your life...if you let go and trust where the waves take you, there is nothing to worry about.

So, there it is...my 2008 New Year's Resolution. I suspect this will take me a decade, perhaps longer, to achieve, but having this clear vision for where want to go is a gift that I am eternally grateful for. Thank you, Emily, for asking me the question. Writing this article is my very first baby step

Happy New Year, everyone. This is a great chance at a new beginnings with the invaluable lessons each precedeing year has given us. What a trememdous gift.