Whose year was it?

Over the next few hours, as in the last few days, we are likely to be told — again — that 2008 is a year to forget. I recognize the news has been bad — the news is always bad — and many people are hurting.

But whose year are we talking about? If I say to you, “2008,” what do you think of? The election? The recount? The economy?

Those may be events in our lives, but are they our lives? Are they our years? I have a hard time saying “2008 was a bad year” to someone who, for example, watched their kid walk across a stage to get his or her high school diploma this year? Or the person whose biopsy showed the tumor was benign.

But we don’t do news stories about high school graduations or medical test results for people who aren’t from Hollywood. And yet, that’s the way we live our lives. Personally. Individually. Quietly. It stands to reason that it’s not up to people like us to review and define 2008; it’s up to you.

As the old question goes: How was it for you?