Opinion

Barry Manilow had it all wrong. "I write the songs that make the whole world sing," Manilow sung on his chart-topping 1976 song. "I write the songs of love and special things, I write the songs that make the young girls cry.

Merry Christmas to city council! I have just read an article on page 3 of a recent Citizen. The article is in regard to a thrift shop that has been operating from sometime in the sixties, helping people.

Well, here we are again, another new year. It almost seems impossible to me that another 365 days have flown by. Like many people, I have spent time reflecting on the past year: the joys and sorrows, the triumphs and the failures.

Mass shootings seem more commonplace in these troubled times.

Some people like to look forward to a new year and make bold optimistic predictions about what's in store. I don't have a clue. I have enough trouble grappling with the present, and constant difficulty remembering the past.

And justice for all. Those are the last four words of the Pledge of Allegiance that Americans take to their flag and the country it represents. The difficulty is that this noble aspiration of justice for all is not made reality often enough.

I often wonder about peoples' motives and decisions and what they are truly based on. It seems as if we can categorize them easily enough into love or fear.

The changing of the calendar is often a time for reflection - to think about the year that was and speculate on the year yet to be.

The new Star Wars movie, The Force Awakens, has been around just a few weeks, but has already made record revenues. The series is filled with intrigue as well as a complex plot, both of which seems to draw audiences around the world.

2015 - a year that will soon be over but the effects of which will be felt in our town, our country, and around the world for decades to come, if for no other reason than the anniversaries it has marked.