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ACCORDING TO LIZ - As the final days of 2022 rush by, for many of us this is a time for remembrance – of milestones met and upheavals experienced, of sorrows shared and dreams fulfilled.
At the end of each year, there is also an element of redemption. In addition to summing up the months now past, comes a focus on release of both traumas and joys in preparation for what awaits us in the coming year, a sense of positive anticipation and hope for events as yet to unfold.
For people in the northern hemisphere, the longer nights and the colder weather make it a time for reflection. A time to huddle around the fire and give thanks for the return of the sun as the days start to lengthen.
The year 2022 has been one of high drama and deep concerns. The shock of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February, a turning point with the November elections at home, and the plethora of super-storms in their various guises throughout the year throughout the world.
It was a year when climate change became all too real for millions of Americans and billions more around the world, and when the intersectionality of lives and events played out with economic crises in Britain and Europe, while here at home the Federal Reserve kept hiking the interest rate claiming wages were driving inflation and not the excessive profiteering of mega-corporations.
In the redemption column we had Kansas standing up for women’s rights in the face of the Supreme Court’s Dobbs ruling, we had the pomp and glory of the Jan. 6 hearings and its report, we saw Trump cut down to size again and again ending with the publication of his scurrilous tax returns six years after they should have first been released, and we had the devil’s deal between Schumer and Manchin successfully (so far) stymied by the will of the people who pushed their Senators to reflect their constituents’ choices over corporate overreach.
A star in the heavens was the sign of Christ the Redeemer.
Whether leading the three magi to Bethlehem or guiding escaped slaves north or just sparkling in the skies above us, stars have a special mystique and are a sign of hope and betterment for all mankind.
A time to reflect, a time for joy
Time to remember what has been lost must also include the passing of those no longer with us. While the deaths of some may presage a sea-change, others have just gone quietly into that goodnight.
Here is my list of the icons we’ve lost this year, people whose deaths touched me the most – and if some of the names aren’t instantly familiar, it might behoove you to look them up.
Queen Elizabeth II
Madeleine Albright
Kirstie Alley
Clyde Bellecourt
Barbara Ehrenreich
Dr. Paul Farmer
Emilio Delgado
Jean-Luc Goddard
Mikhail Gorbachev
Dirck Halstead
Sally Kellerman
Angela Lansbury
Jerry Lee Lewis
Ray Liotta
Loretta Lynn
James Lovelock
Meat Loaf
Thich Nhat Hanh
Nichelle Nichols
P.J. O’Rourke
Sidney Poitier
Douglas Trumbull
Raymond Washburn
Vangelis
The foregoing will all live on in the memories of those whose lives they affected during their time here on earth.
On the personal level, I will also sorely miss my aunt and uncle who died within days of each other in November.
“May they rest in peace” does not go far enough.
Instead, I hope they’re hosting a hell of a party with those who have gone before, an ongoing celebration so they will be there to joyously greet us when our time on planet earth is over.
(Liz Amsden is a contributor to CityWatch and an activist from Northeast Los Angeles with opinions on much of what goes on in our lives. She has written extensively on the City's budget and services as well as her many other interests and passions. In her real life she works on budgets for film and television where fiction can rarely be as strange as the truth of living in today's world.)
