We have arrived. We heard it was coming. 2025 is here. MJ is making chicken soup. The only carrots I could find were in a five-pound bag. Do you like carrots? What will the New Year bring?

Tragedy has struck in New Orleans. A sad reminder of our troubled world. People happy celebrating the New Year…were mowed down by a terrorist. We have been to Bourbon Street a place of party and fun. Death and destruction did not enter our minds.

So it goes as we negotiate our path in our New Year. The road we travel together is well-lit at times and dark and murky at other times. Our resolve is clear until we hit a hidden brick wall. It is the recovery from the Wall that takes supreme effort and faith.

We walk toward Light. Darkness is around us…before us and behind us. How we react to the darkness is our challenge. Do we hide our heads in the sand like our friend the ostrich? Shall we become bitter insular and hide with the doors bared in our homes? Will we fear the homeless…those different than we are? Or will we follow the message of Christ?

‘This is the year of friendship,’ Jane said triumphantly! ‘I am going to make a new friend every week, Jane continued. ‘I will seek those who are lonely,’ Jane reflected.

‘I love One Eye whose name is Abigail,’ Neva J said with a smile. ‘The townspeople make fun of her for her one eye and strange clothing,’ Neva J continued. ‘She has been the light of my life since I met her…she was in Vaudeville in the 20s, ” Neva J said.

‘Tommy L is an interesting chap,’ Chet said. ‘He is a brilliant mathematician, Chet continued. ‘His dad is a professor at MIT,’ Chet noted. ‘He is shunned due to his disability…he has forgotten more than those who shun him and yet has the grace to not inform them of his brilliance,’ Chet noted somberly.