Once again, I again find myself on the eve of not only a New Year but for the seventh time in my life on the eve of a “New Decade”. That statement itself raises an annoying question: does a decade end on a year ending in 9, thus beginning a new decade on a year ending in a 0?

To some, that’s a matter of opinion. Up until the year 2000, I had been one who considered a new decade beginning with a year ending in 0; 1970 – 80- 90, etc. But with the coming of the new millennium, the question really flared up to almost controversial heights over the idea that a new millennium was arriving in 2000 when others declared that it would not truly be a new one until 2001. It was only then that I began debating the mathematical logic of the question, discovering that there had never been a year 0 on the Gregorian calendar, thus the first ever decade ran 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10, a decade of 10 years, Therefore the second decade began on the year 11. That sold me. But I discovered I was almost totally alone in my thinking. There seemed to be an ingrained even-year bias in the human mind, making most folk believe 0 was the beginning of decades and millennia. So, why bother to argue; I was out of the loop. Besides, what difference does it make?

That brings me, though, to reflecting on this past decade and what it has meant to me and my life. It was in February of 2010 that I began the effort of bringing my fiancée (whom I’d met on a trip to the Philippines in 2009) and her son to the U.S. so we could get married. Believe it, or not, that was a relatively easy task and I went to the Philippines and brought them to their new home November of that year, leading us to make our life together official in February of 2011 with our marriage, just a little under one year after I began the process.

As for the rest of the decade, it was just life, though I did have the near-life-ending event of a heart attack in January of 2016. Life, however, is full of adventurous surprises. But other than that temporary detour, those of you who have followed us here pretty well know the rest of the story for Lynndee is faithful in chronicling her life experiences, and I pitch in every now and then with my two bits. But there truly was one momental occasion of the entire decade, which took place just a couple of months ago, and that was that of Lynndee becoming a United States citizen, therefore also making her son Yogi a citizen.

So tonight we’ll spend our 10th New Year’s Eve together and begin our second decade of life together. So we’ll share a glass of wine, share a kiss and begin another year of happiness. And I can think of no better way to begin not only a New Year but also a “New Decade”! So, see y’all next year and, HAPPY NEW EVERYTHING TO Y’ALL!