- The year to be...
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- It is a question often asked this time of season: "What
will happen in the coming year?"
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- Despite the oppressive crush of cynicism from people
who habitually see life's-glass as being half empty, I will take this opportunity
to stand as a champion, a bulwark, a veritable literary vanguard in an
ongoing effort to vanquish such contemptible assaults on humanity. In turn
I hope to alert you, the dear reader, as to what will be.
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- In 2004, I predict there will be warm sunny days set
against a buttery afternoon sky in which a father will watch his son catch
their his fish. I predict flowers will smell sweeter this year, and a young
girl will catch her first butterfly. This year the scent of fresh-cut hay
will be carried on an aromatic breeze so heavy with warm and nostalgic
memories they'll need to be pulled aside by a team of horses.
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- As it has done for a millennium snow will fall in Pleasantville
this coming year, and from it will spring the laughter of children as snowmen
bounce to life while rust-worn sleigh-runners are polished like new during
madcap rides down snow packed hills. Ah yes, a new year in Pleasantville,
can you feel it? As our hearts and hearths glow warm with hope eternal
even the coldest of souls must give way to the inspiration of promise.
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- I see a father this year will "find the time,"
and in doing so he'll "remember" how important and loved he felt
when his father did likewise. I see spoons of cake mix being sought by
mommy's helpers while mothers, as they have selflessly done for years,
prepare food for a family picnic.
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- I predict a young father, while looking into his newborn's
eyes, will have an epiphany in which he'll finally understand why he'd
sometimes find his father smiling at him with tear-streaked cheeks. This
year, as in years-gone-by, neighbors will selflessly help those less fortune
for no other reason than to lighten someone's load, and in doing so they'll
discover how their parents found true richness in life.
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- I predict a young princess will hug a Knight in Shining
Armor for an act of uncommon love and sacrifice, and despite possessing
extraordinary valor her father will not be able to stem his tears. I predict
a father's daughter, who's fought a historic battle with depression will
win her fight then live on as a heroine with an unprecedented drive to
help others.
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- I predict a soldier will lower his unfired weapon from
an enemy target thinking only God and he will know. I predict a man will
say to a nurse, "No, it's okay, I'll feed her - she's my mother."
I predict a musician will complete a song, a writer a book, a mother her
family, a man and woman each other, a puppy a boy.
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- I predict a gravely ill woman in a hospital bed will
turn her head to recognize her long departed husband extending his hand
from eternity to ask for hers one final time.
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- Yes, next year will pretty much be like last, frogs will
still jump, birds will sing and bees will collect honey as we come to understand
the eternal bond of humanity and love.
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- _____
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- For more of Lea's work, please see Columnists...
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