From the Editor

Kierstin Richter, Editor

“So whoever is in Christ is a new creation: the old things have passed away; behold, new things have come.” 2 Corinthians 5:17

Sometimes moving forward can stir up mixed feelings. On the one hand, we’re excited and teeming with anticipation for all the new adventures that lie before us. On the other, we foster some sort of nostalgia for a time gone by, and we’re afraid things will never be the same or memories will be forgotten. But perhaps deep inside, we realize things will be okay, and sometimes, they even turn out great.

Some fear they will be forgotten. Some people are, indeed, lost to history, much like the nameless faces in the Yellow Fever Mound - nearly 800 names that may never be spoken aloud again. And then some stories won’t be told until centuries later, much like the men who have been buried at Saint Joseph Cemetery for nearly 137 years, all that time with no marker, no headstone to commemorate them. But time and memory know nothing of legacy. Even if every last person has forgotten your name, you have still rippled an effect that carries on into a changed world for centuries to come. The stories live on. The world silently turns a little differently because you were here.

As time marches on and we smile in the face of change, we hold onto the hope of a world as beautiful as the last. Mark Twain once said, “History doesn’t repeat, but it does rhyme.” So much changes, yet so much stays the same. As we open a new year, a new chapter in our lives, we remember the stories that precede us, but we also look to the future in excitement. What new memories will we make? What new stories will we write? So as we venture into a new year, let us remember the stories and the people who have shaped us. Let us remember the times of old and anticipate the times of new. For the days gone by, for the memories we’ve shared, let us toast to a year well lived. Happy New Year, everyone. Let’s make it count.