Happy New Year to Everett Post Readers and KRKO and KXA Listeners – Everett Post

The following is an editorial comment from Marcee Maylin, editor of the Everett Post

What was that year, what was it for two years. So much has happened that it’s hard to get started. Maybe with that.

Although our nation is divided in some ways, it is always united. We have to look for what we all have in common. Americans are the most resilient people in the world. It was founded on freedom and we have fought for it for over two hundred years. Throw something at us and we will come together in response. We will find a solution.

While we have endured unimaginable battles with great loss of life to our loved ones, friends, and cherished icons during the pandemic over the past few years, we have survived. We reinvented our work lives, homeschooled our children and helped them while working remotely through Zoom school classes. We have changed. Change is difficult but inevitable.

Some amazing things happened in the process. Our North Sound Community has received over 2,400 Afghan refugees, made up of men, women and children. With the support of our local governments, charities, and religious organizations, we have provided them with a warm place to sleep, eat, dress, educate, and enjoy opportunities they could never have dreamed of. Everything without war and violence and a feeling of security.

We are a nation of immigrants, new and centuries old. When I was younger, required reading was a book called the Frederick Turner Thesis. It’s still available today. The theory suggests that Americans have an innate desire to invent and explore new frontiers. It began with the exploration and settlement of the “Wild West” and went into space. Imagine the first brave people to cross the oceans to arrive here. Would you have ever imagined Seattle, San Francisco or Los Angeles? Everyone who arrives here wants the same thing. A chance for a better life.

While we can all agree that our government is struggling to find consensus among different peoples and beliefs, the days of small communities where there is a leader and everyone can vote and agree on a way forward are long gone past. Imagine being an elected official in a country of 350 million people. Agree or disagree with them; they felt called to serve and were courageous to run for office. I attended an open hearing at Olympia a few years ago. Our representatives asked for input. Otherwise, they will use their best judgment to address important issues, knowing that not everyone will be happy. When you receive these surveys and questionnaires from your representatives, take a moment to complete them before throwing them in the trash.

We have got used to our simple lifestyle, difficult as it may seem at times. Someone, please run to the drugstore or the grocery store on the corner, call 911, or run to a nearby emergency room with a sick child.

In these crazy times and as the New Year begins, remember that there are people around the world who have no drinking water, access to basic health care, and drought-stricken food crops. Random kindnesses like running to open a door to an elderly citizen are so valued.

We will persevere and find a solution to all challenges. We’re Americans, after all.

Have a happy, successful and grateful New Year.