WilLaVeist.com

Ten years ago the world was supposed to end. I remember Dec. 31, 1999 as though it were yesterday. My wife and children and I were huddled on Wacker Drive in downtown Chicago as midnight approached. For months there was spooky talk about the “Y2K bug,” that since computers weren’t programmed to identify the year 2000, machines were going to fail. Planes could drop out of the sky. Electricity could shut down, turning cities dark. Prepare for anarchy in the streets was the warning.

I didn’t buy the hype, so we took the train downtown and hit the streets with the other revelers. As Chicago’s version of the Times Square ball dropped and fireworks lit the sky, we hugged each other, hugged strangers and hollered “Happy New Year.” We had no clue that that was the start of one of the toughest decades for the nation and our family.

Some lowlights: The following year came September 11. Then two wars in the Middle East, Hurricane Isabel smashed Hampton Roads and then Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans. There were two economic bubbles (Internet and housing) leading to the Great Recession. As for my family, there were two major surgeries, three job losses, and three high school enrollments triggered by three housing relocations. No wonder Time Magazine’s Dec. 7 cover story calls 2000 to 2009 “The Decade From Hell.”

Every decade has a few tragic moments that define the times – those “Do you remember where you were?” moments.  Perhaps the last time a decade had so many was in the 1960s. Defined by the civil rights movement and Vietnam War, many people remember exactly where they were when they heard about the assassinations of President John F. Kennedy, the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., and Robert Kennedy. But the 1960s also marked great achievements such as man’s first walk on the moon in 1969.

Likewise there have been great moments during the first decade of the 21st Century. Personally, I wrote three books, my wife graduated from college on my birthday, and two of our children graduated from high school and entered college. But my most vivid “Do you remember where you were?” moment was Nov. 4, 2008, the night Barack Obama was declared the nation’s 44th president. I was covering the Democrat’s election return party at the Holiday Inn in Hampton. The ballroom erupted like a New Year’s Day celebration. From children to seniors, people hugged, kissed and screamed. Middle-aged men cried, marveling at the accomplishment they thought they would never witness – the country’s first Black President. Like the moon walk, it was a major step forward for the nation and had come after generations of disappointments and pain.

This is why despite the bad things that happened the past 10 years, I disagree that the “Decade From Hell” has come to a close. You can’t truly know joy without first experiencing pain. Many are suffering as unemployment is above 10 percent and an estimated 15 million Americans are jobless. But when you understand that the purpose of pain is to alert you that something needs fixing, you can appreciate pain’s benefits. Pain is essential for change and growth. For example, I’m sure that for many parents, one of the benefits of the Recession was being able to honestly tell their children to not expect a lot of expensive Christmas gifts. Focus instead on appreciating the gift of God, country, family and being a blessing to others – things that have lasting value.

No, it’s the “Decade of Preparation” that has come to a close. Better days are ahead. I’m looking forward to 10 years of joy and prosperity.

How about you?