If nothing else had happened I might have named the first
ten years of the 21st century “The Decade of Broadening
Experiences.”
For our 25th anniversary Linda and I planned and
took a two-week trip to Italy. It was a
magical journey: Rome, the Colloseum and
Sistine Chapel; the Italian Riviera, aka Cinque Terre (five lands); walking the
back streets of Venice at night; getting lost in Florence looking for the David
and Michelangelo’s home; Sorrento and the Amalfi Coast, where we experienced a
most precarious bus ride; and finally Pompeii, where we were reminded of the
fragility of life and wondered what all those people were doing and thinking on
their last day.
We were jazzed after that trip and began thinking of other
places we wanted to experience. This
could be a decade of exposure to the cultures of the world. Then 9/11 happened! Afghanistan invaded! Two years later Iraq! Would this now become a decade defined by
wars and terrorism and counter-terrorism?
There are events that intrude into the ongoingness of our
lives and our planning for wonderful futures that alter our perceptions about
life itself. I guess the “Decade of
Broadening Experiences” is good enough for a descriptive title for this era
after all. We have always said: “The future is open!”
