Dec 28, 2007   | COMMENTS     

WHAT WILL I remember about 2007? What are my thoughts about the year ahead? Well, I turned 50 in 2007. This means I can barely remember what happened yesterday. Or where the car keys are. So I thought I’d better write a few things down before I forget.

Authenticity is very hard to come by

I’m going to make everyone I know promise me that they will never hire a pollster. I’ve learned that I need the people in my life to say what they mean and mean what they say. Should I expect less from my presidential candidates? Absolutely. Should I stop hoping? Never.

Turning 50 is easier than going to high school

Our three kids have grown up in a world filled with terror and natural disasters. And 24-hour news reminds them of this incessantly. It’s always been hard to be a teenager but chaperoning our oldest through her high school career made me realize that attention must be paid. I’m not just glad I’m home when they come home from school. It feels really important.

Making room for everyone at the table isn’t easy

The ENDA debate reminded us all that there is an elephant in the middle of our community’s room. We do not all agree about the “T” in “lgbT.” Some of us understand the value of incremental gain. Some others of us seem to be missing the lesson that gender difference is a key driver of the discrimination we face every day. This lesson will carry over into 2008 and beyond.

Turning 80 is easier than turning 50

I learned that taking my mother for a check-up to the cardiologist is simply an excuse to go out for a really nice lunch. My mother makes 80 look like great fun.

Alcohol is poison

In the span of two weeks, I admitted two of the people closest to me into psychiatric facilities for alcohol detox. We delivered Thanksgiving dinner to the hospital for one friend and sent art supplies to the hospital for my brother John. Their addiction to alcohol led them to jeopardize everything and everyone they hold dear. I know I want to remember this.

Visibility is our most powerful weapon

I was told this year that there are no gay people in Iran but there are at Hogwarts. There are in public office. There are on television. There are even gays in Hollywood (note to self: send Jodie Foster a toaster oven). This lesson I have committed to memory.

And a few thoughts going into 2008. I am going to try to remember to do the following:

I will do whatever I can do personally to make sure that a Democrat wins the White House in November.

I promise not to behave like a really smart victim (gays have this tendency) but to realize that with my right to vote comes power and responsibility. Absolutely no snarky comments about the Democratic nominee. And I will have zero tolerance for any snarky comments I hear.

I promise to stop talking about Mike Bloomberg. He has many qualities I’m looking for in a presidential candidate and he may be the Democrats’ worst nightmare.

I promise that our family’s new kitten (arriving today) will never replace any of my children or my spouse as my favorite living thing at my house. (Gays have this tendency.)

I will work hard to be in a real relationship with my kids and my spouse — even when our 13-year-olds no longer want to be seen with me.

And last but not least, I’ll do my best this year to be part of the solution rather than part of the problem.

On New Year’s Eve of 2008, I hope I am celebrating the upcoming change in Washington. I hope that my family will be healthy. I hope that my mother will be enjoying being 81. I hope that my brother realizes he has demons. I hope my friend wins his battle against his demons. I hope to see an overall decrease in demons.

And I hope that in all things personal and political, I can be articulate, clear and powerful. Because I should, because I can and because I care.