2009! It’s almost gone. And thank God for that.

2009! The election of our country's first African American president. The year began with so much hope. Finally, change had come. Black faces in the White House. Tears, and pride, that I had stood in long lines and joined with a " post-racial" America to vote Barack Obama into the highest office in the land. Lovely Michele. Two little brown girls. Martin's dream at last seemingly fulfilled.

The miracle on the Hudson. Pilot Sully amazed us all by deftly landing a plane carrying 155 passengers -- on water. None were lost. Few were injured. Just the thing our souls longed for since September 11th.

The economy. Folks losing houses. Bank closures and foreclosures. Bailouts! Feeling scared to spend a dime. Pay cuts --my husband’s, then mine. Layoffs. Home prices sink. Auto industry in peril.

Swine flu....health care debate....Bernie Madoff...credit crunch....deficit...Afghanistan...Michael Jackson!

Edward Kennedy.....Fort Hood.....Tiger Woods.

2009 was a hard year. Unrelentingly hard. It seemed to go on and on. Now at last we have come to the closing days of 2009. The "old man of 2009" finally dies and bequeaths to the "new baby of 2010" the lessons 2009 taught us.

We learned what it means to "tighten our belts.” That we had better save some money. That we had better KNOW who we invest our money with. That we can live on less. That keeping up with the "Joneses " keeps us in debt.

That one black president does not mean the end of racism. That our beloved president is, in some ways, as white as he is black.

We learned that we had better buy houses that we can afford. We learned about underwater mortgages. We learned about drowning in debt.

We learned about coughing into our sleeves. We learned it's ok to stay home when we are sick. We bought hand sanitizer.

We thought about where we stand on universal heath care.

We learned to love Michael Jackson again. We learned that he was like the family member with the problem that we all talked and joked about but in the end we found that he was so much a part of who we are.

We cried when Ted Kennedy died.

And now, as the year ends, we are left shaking our heads over the news of Tiger Woods' indiscretions. Why would a man who has accomplished so much professionally and financially, who has finally married the blond, blue-eyed trophy of his dreams, not only cheat, but cheat so profusely?

I find it fitting that that last big story of 2009 is about a man who has enough already but greedily grabbed for more.

Maybe that's the lesson the "old man " wants to teach -- that we had better learn how to be satisfied with what we have. That we had better save our money and our marriages. That we had better not be drawn in by the allure and lies of the world's Madoffs.

That we don't need to lighten our skin or fix our noses. That we had better leave drugs alone. That we can be happy in smaller houses, with fewer credit cards. That it’s good to still have a job, even when the job isn't the job of your dreams.

That grasping for things that seem too good to be true often brings disaster -- a Madoff ripoff, an underwater mortgage, in debt up to our ears or wrecked beside the road with a golf club over your head.

The "old man of 2009" wants the "baby of 2010 " to understand the lessons our parents taught us years ago -- that a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush. That the grass only LOOKS greener on the other side.

So hurry 2010. I await your coming. Older and wiser.

D. Barbara McWhite grew up in York County and lives in Orange Park, Fla., with her husband and cat.

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