By Edwin Cooney
Okay, I begin with three guesses. The first is that the last 2012 sunrise has likely made its
appearance over your abode by the time you begin reading this! I’m also guessing that the year two
thousand twelve has probably long since permanently stamped its imprint on your
psyche. Its successes and
disappointments are most obvious as you prepare to welcome 2013 into your
awareness. My third guess is more
speculative: 2012’s full significance may not be apparent for some time to
come!
You and I are of course familiar with the idea that
"every day is the first day of the rest of our lives," but how
significant that reality truly is can be a little daunting. However, especially if it’s just a tad
frightening, it can be dismissed or easily overshadowed by compelling events
and circumstances. Nevertheless,
the patterns and the meanings of 2012 have been imprinted in our individual and
collective awareness ultimately having an inevitable effect on who we are and
what we do for the rest of our lives.
Thousands will gather this midnight in Times Square and at
celebrative gatherings all around the world to usher out the old and welcome in
the New Year. Millions of people
will privately celebrate 2013’s arrival with private parties. Millions more however will pointedly
try and avoid marking the passage of 2012 and the arrival of 2013 altogether.
Still, the clock mechanism of our consciousness moves forward heedless of how we feel about it.
Like the 366 days in the leap year that have just passed and
the 365 days just ahead, people and events great and small have been marked by
this day.
Some people of note born on December 31st include:
General George Gordon Meade in 1815 who led Union forces to
victory over the Confederate General Robert E. Lee at the Battle of Gettysburg
from July 1st through 3rd in 1863;
World War II Army Chief of Staff (and later Secretary of
State and Defense) George C. Marshall (born 1880) who proposed the “Marshall
Plan” for the reconstruction of Europe after World War II;
Actor Jason Robards, Sr. (who appeared along with Elvis
Presley in a 1961 movie “Wild In The Country”) in 1892;
Simon Wiesenthal, born December
31, 1908, the Polish national who successfully hunted down Nazi war criminals;
and
Singer John Denver (born in 1943 as Henry John
Deutschendorf).
Among those who died on December 31st while the rest of us
were looking forward to the dawning of a new year and new opportunities:
Thirty-nine-year-old Michael Kennedy, son of the late
Senator Robert F. Kennedy, was killed in a skiing accident December 31,
1997;
Country pianist Floyd Cramer died of cancer at age 64 the
same day as young Mike Kennedy;
Former IBM President Thomas J. Watson in 1994;
Professional football coach George Allen in1990;
Rock singer Ricky (born Eric Hilliard) Nelson who apparently
free-based his way to eternity in the back of a chartered plane on the last day
of 1985;
and, perhaps most tragically of all, baseball star Roberto Clement
who died while carrying relief help to the people of earthquake-shattered
Nicaragua from his home in Puerto Rico on the last day of 1972.
Historical events for December 31 include:
The opening of America’s first bank, The Bank of North
America, in 1781;
Ottawa was chosen by Queen Victoria to be Canada’s new
capital on December 31, 1857;
President Abraham Lincoln signed the legislation that paved
the way toward West Virginia becoming our thirty-fifth state on the last day of
1862 (although West Virginia statehood would not become official until June 20
1863);
The cornerstone of the Iolani Palace (the only royal palace
in America) was laid on December 31, 1879.;
The same day that Royalist Hawaiians were celebrating their
new palace, Thomas Edison was demonstrating his incandescent light bulb;
Ellis Island was opened on the last day of 1890 as a
receiving center for immigrants; December 31, 1897 was the last day that
Brooklyn was an independent “city”: it was officially incorporated into New
York City on Saturday, January 1, 1898.
The ball dropped for the first time in Times Square in the
last seconds of Tuesday, December 31, 1907;
On the last day of 1914, Colonel Jacob Ruppert and
Captain Tillinghast L’Hommedieu
Huston purchased the New York Yankees for $460,000 and began building the team
into its present dynastic status;
On the last day of 1935, Charles Darrow patented the new
game he called Monopoly;
In 1961, the Beach Boys staged their first performance;
On the last day of 1970, Paul McCartney filed suit to break
up the Beatles;
On December 31, 1981, CNN Headline News opened for
business;
December 31, 1991 was the last day the Union of Soviet
Socialist Republics (the USSR) existed;
And, finally, it was on Friday, December 31, 1999 that
Panamanians gained control of the Panama Canal -- thanks largely, of course, to
former President Jimmy Carter.
Ultimately, December 31st 2012, as every other
day, belongs to you. In your
intellect and spirit there exists all of the material elements with which you
may meld, for your legitimate happiness, the best strategies for taking
advantage of those events and situations great and small that will occur
throughout the rest of your life.
I like to think that each God-given day blends beginnings
and ends thus creating the energy from which we may borrow sufficient strength
for all of our tomorrows!
A little hokey you say? Well, perhaps, but it works for me!
RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED,
EDWIN COONEY
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