On New Year’s Eve Eve, December 30, 2024, I made a single New Year’s resolution — something I hadn’t done in many years — and put it out there to the world. I should have known better.
I committed that act of foolishness in the wake of what had been a very bad year for the world, and on the heels of a U.S. presidential election that clearly wasn’t going to make matters any better. I pledged to seek out, at least once a week, a happy event to serve as the subject of one of my blog posts. Just to lighten things up a bit.
But, as we all know, s*it happens. And in the roughly 19 months since that day, it has happened with increasing regularity . . . to the extent that I completely forgot about that resolution in the chaos of trying to stay sane and balance my budget. (One of those two challenges has been an abject failure; I’ll let you guess which one.)
Anyway, I came across that old article yesterday, and thought I might give it another try — not as a firm resolution this time, but as a goal, or perhaps a survival mechanism. And since the supply of good news is still so unreliable, I’ve decided to reach for inspiration into the past, to a time when my life was rich with fascinating work, good friends, travel, and daily laughter.
They were the Walter years: the ten years, from 1979 to 1989, when I worked with a man the Reader’s Digest would call “my most unforgettable character.” His name was Walter Sterling Surrey, and I’ve written a bit about him before. But I have barely scraped the surface of the endless number of rollicking (or at least amusing) stories about those memorable years. So I will try to recreate the atmosphere of an era when young people still held high hopes for the future, my Honda Accord cost around $12,000, and America was where everyone else wished they lived.
So look for the first chapter of “Life With Walter,” coming soon. I’m hoping it will be a pleasant break from the daily diet of wars, corruption, and natural disasters.
Just sayin’ . . .
Brendochka
8/11/26
The Blog About Everything … and Sometimes Nothing 
“and America was where everyone else wished they lived.” That’s always been a myth, but one most Americans bought unto until more recently. Even in the 1960s and 1970s there was never it time I would have been willing to forgo our Kiwi freedoms for the ones promoted by America. 😀
Regardless, I look forward to your Life With Walter posts. 🤸
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Re-reading my words from a literal point of view, I see your point. I was writing figuratively — not meaning “everyone” in the world, but the millions upon millions of refugees and other immigrants who have built this country and made it what it is (or was), including my own grandparents. Perhaps a better choice of words would have been “and America was a shining beacon of freedom and democracy.” Thanks, as always, for pointing out another interpretation.
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