Can this be 2010?

As we wake up to a New Year, can this really be 2010? Last thing I recall clearly, I was a 22-year-old college grad in 1971, heading off to Europe with nothing but a backpack, a notebook and a pen.

Now I’ve got two sons out of their teens, a husband of 31 years, and a box of Clairol Nice’n Easy natural dark brown in hand.

I also have shelves stacked with copies of the more than 80 books I’ve written, a bank account that doesn’t anywhere near match other people’s expectations (or mine), a computer with an operating system so old Microsoft doesn’t support it any more, and an amazing number of wonderful friends.

Arithmetic got it right, algebra got it wrong: there are pluses and minuses, and things add up, but what’s on one side of the equation doesn’t always equal what’s on the other side.

If that makes sense. You can tell I’m no mathematician.

Still, it’s wonderful to wake up in the age of miracles. At breakfast, we take pills to beef up our bones and lower our cholesterol. Our arms still tingle from shots to protect us against both regular and swine flu. After the holidays, I’ll go on-line and sign up to give blood that could save someone’s life.

My husband and I may be the king and queen of outdated technology, but even on our analog TV and our non-Blue-Ray DVD player, we can enjoy the latest Harry Potter movie and the entire zillion episodes of the BBC’s Upstairs, Downstairs, which I thought was lost to me forever after the 1970s.

My older son has a new Google phone with a program that lets you aim the camera eye at the night sky and see on screen what stars, planets and constellations you’re looking at. If you want to find Jupiter, just type in the name and an arrow will point you in the right direction as you move your phone.

Age of miracles. Who could have imagined we’d live to see all this?

I’ll tell you who: my mother. She turned 92 this year and she’s still creating her amazing sculptures (one of which you can see on the home page of my Web site, www.jacquelinediamond.com).

What will we be waking up to 30 years from now? I can’t imagine. But won’t it be great if we get a chance to find out!