Here we are once again at the end of one year and the beginning of a new one on the Jewish calendar. It’s time to hear the shofar and wake up once again to the world around us and its beauty and its challenges. It’s time once again to consider our own actions during the past year and to consider how we want to live in the year ahead.

I am fortunate to live in one of the most beautiful places I know, and I am aware of that all the time. Walking on the beach or on the trails in the woods always makes me grateful for this planet we live on. But when I think about the past year globally, I can’t help but focus on all the natural disasters—the floods, the earthquakes, the extreme heat. How much is caused by human activity is hard to say, but obviously much of it is. The amount of destruction is unfathomable, and so when I turn to looking forward, I wonder what will happen to our planet this year and in the years to come. Will there be a place that is safe for our descendants?

When I think of the past year on a national and international level, I see inflation, waste, war, loss of human rights and dignity, violence, hatred, and anger. It’s not a pretty picture, and I feel deep despair for the future of this country and the world. Your politics may differ from mine, and that’s fine. But we all need to find a way to work together without all the anger and hatred. After all, today is the 25th anniversary of 9/11. Have we learned nothing since then about how much hatred and war only serve to destroy us and everything we love?

On a personal level, on the other hand, it has been a very good year. We celebrated our 50th anniversary with all our kids on St Martin in March, and we will be celebrating it again as a couple in Paris in just a few weeks. I am so blessed to have a family I adore. My grandchildren are growing up, and seeing their passion for the things they enjoy–music, art, Jewish life, camp, travel, books, and their family and friends—gives me hope for their futures and the future in general.

And on the genealogy front, it’s been a productive year with so many new discoveries and connections. I am always excited to find new cousins, and this year has brought me so many new family members and new leaves on the family tree. I know this coming year will be equally fulfilling.

And, of course, I completed another family history novel this year and am so grateful to all of you who have read The Women Before Us and written reviews and sent me emails telling me how much you enjoyed reading about Edna, a character who was inspired by my paternal grandmother, Eva.

Looking forward, I am hoping for a year of peace, love, kindness, community, family, friendship, and good health for all of us. I hope to find ways to contribute to my community and to my country to bring an end to all the rancor and venom. I want to focus on loving my family and friends and spending as much time as I can with them.

Shanah tovah! May it be a good year for everyone everywhere!

By Gilabrand (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)%5D, via Wikimedia Commons