What a difference a January can make

Coin similar to one I saw New Year's Eve

Always, the promise of a new year inspires us and we regroup ourselves, make plans, resolutions, schedule work, etc, and resolve to maintain positive expectations and hopes in regards to all aspects of our lives. What we can control, we offer best efforts, and what we can't control, good or bad, we try to accept and live with.

Last year in January 2011, while the ground was covered in two feet of snow, I felt anxious. After a six-month wait in 2010 for the GNGS paperback release in November 2010, I was realizing the impact our original publisher's sudden closing would have on my hopes for GNGS ever reaching its intended purpose.

This year, NJ's first day in January topped over 50 degrees, and that touch of springtime in our region was more than welcomed, and the warmth was comforting. I've learned from last year's experiences to be so much more careful in so many ways. It was in January of 2011, a year ago, that I began a year with a resolution to give a final concentrated effort to getting the Natalie Wood case reopened. Although it took eleven months into 2011 to learn of a new investigation, despite unchecked media claims of publicity stunts and misrepresented book releases, it was exalting news.

This year's start comes while Natalie's case is actually being re-investigated. We need to trust that the case is in good hands and to allow the professionals to perform their jobs. Personally, I gave it my all to get the case recognized, and I appreciate all of those who helped along that journey. I am so grateful to the LASD for giving an important case such important consideration. Natalie's case is one of many that deserve attention, but it is her case that I had become attached to throughout the past three decades, so of course it means a lot to me on a personal level. Whatever the outcome, the journey has proven a worthwhile effort.

For those who follow here, you know how much I love certain quotes and proverbs. Well, I especially love when certain words or ideas cross my path by chance. I spent my New Year's Eve with a small party at my home, consisting of family and a few close friends. Right after midnight, after joining the kids in banging pots and pans -- as no retail noisemaker has ever matched that fun way to create truly loud, annoying noise :-) -- I saw the words that I hope will define my new year. A close friend sat near me and I noticed his keys nearby. I asked about a unique coin emblem attached to his key-chain. He is very proud of it because the coin was issued to him from the CIA (he works for the government with official clearance and travels a lot working on computer systems). The coin is gold with decoration and the words that circle the outside rim read:

You shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free.

...Wishing everyone a year of truth, and the freedom that stems from knowing it... Happy New January, Happy New Year!

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