HAPPY NEW YEAR

10 years ago on this very evening Bryan and I were both working in the ER. All hospital personnel were on call because we were certain Y2K would blow up the hospital computers and the generator would be the only equipment left for survival. At 5 till midnight Bryan, myself and one of our neurosurgery friends went on the roof of the hospital to ring in the new year with sparkling grape juice. As the last seconds of 1999 drew near you could hear the people in the streets counting down. At midnight, bottle rockets were set off, horns were blown and even a few guns shots rang in from Over the Rhine. A bit disappointed, we rode the elevator down 14 floors to the ER where all the lights were on and life appeared to be the same as usual. My mom still has food stored in her basement from the Y2K scare. Over the last decade my brother and his friends have raided her supply for their camping trips. All the good stuff is gone, but some various canned goods remain.

With thoughts of the Prince song, Party like its 1999 in my head I thought the year 2000 and beyond would be better than ever and in some ways it was in others, not so much. Briefly, this is the our decade.

2000: Bryan proposed and I graduated nursing school and passed the boards.

2001: Bryan graduated from residency, we got married, and moved to Evansville, Indiana. 9/11 happened and we lost our dear neighbor Wendy in the second tower. As newlyweds, living away from family was both good and bad. We missed our family and were quite lonely. On the other hand we made some of the best friends of our lives. Friends who had been married for a bit and were able to support and mentor us.

One of my favorite Bryan stories happened this year. Like everyone else after 9/11 we were grief stricken and scared. When the anthrax letters starting happening in D.C., we considered going to home depot and buying the heavy duty plastic wrap and duct tape to save ourselves. We then decided that was stupid and if we were going to die we would just die together. The day that Dashall’s office received an anthrax letter, I noticed Bryan was outside retrieving our daily mail. In true cowboy fashion, Bryan wore a red bandanna tie around his nose and mouth. His hands were protected by my new Williams and Sonoma oven mitts. I followed him to the garage where he was meticulously going through our mail looking for any signs of powder. It was so funny, I swear it could have been on an Seinfield episode. After only 1 year of marriage I knew I was in for a fun ride.

Lastly, we believed we conceived Clay on Halloween 2001.

2002: I started playing tennis, I was pregnant, Grace was in first grade and Bryan worked a lot. In July, Clay Samuel Strader was born and on July 21st Grace Evelyn Prince became Grace Evelyn Strader by adoption. Our family was complete.

2003: We moved to Lexington where Bryan started a job at the Lexington Clinic. Excited to be close to family and friends we jumped on the job opportunity, it wasn’t long before we realized it was a mistake. Reuben, our shih-tzu puppy was added as the third Strader child. My sister Bethany was married to Jarrod Bennett on December 27th.

2004: The kids and I love Lexington, while Bryan works so many hours he can’t stay awake for dinner and commonly throws his pager across the room out of rage. My best friend Heidi married Jim!!!!

2005: With Bryan at his breaking point we start looking for other job opportunities. As we were attending a residency reunion in Cincinnati, one of his fellow attending physicians approached Bryan about moving to Cincinnati. I ran the Columbus Marathon with a dear friend and Clay started preschool. My brother Joel got married to Ellee in Virginia Beach, VA.

2006: My Dad turned 60 and retired from Procter and Gamble. Bryan took the position with Tri-Health and we moved to Cincinnati in June 2006. Excited that I would see my husband more I tried to be optimistic about the move. In all honesty, I was sad, mad and depressed. I had wonderful friends and support in Lexington, leaving was very hard for me.

2007: I had always been passionate about nursing but being married to a physician, bearing and caring for his children there was no time for my nursing career. When we moved to Cincinnati, that all changed. A friend of mine had become the director of the operating room at CCHMC and she offered me a job where I would only have to work 2 times a month. It was there that I ran into my spine surgeon and he asked me to join his team.

2008: Grace is junior high, Clay in first grade and Bryan is very happy in his professional life. I was given the opportunity to teach families and patients about spine surgery. It is wonderful to reflect on where you were and how God brings us full circle! Although I still miss my Lexington buddies, I am blessed with new friends through my neighborhood and my job.

In October of 2008 we lost one of our dearest friends, Judi Callahan. Judi was a second mother to both Bryan and me. She loved us dearly and taught us many things. Her death was unexpected and sudden. We miss her everyday.

2009: 2009, I can’t believe it is already over. This year Grace is in the 8th grade at Mason Middle. She plays soccer and wants to cheer next year. She is so pretty that is scares me. Thank God for braces.

Clay is in first grade and is quite the charmer. He loves Tae Kwon Do and plans to be a rock star by next year.

Bryan still enjoys his work. Moving to Cincinnati was the right thing to do. If your man ain’t happy than no one is. Just today Cincinnati Magazine named Bryan P. Strader as a Top Doctor in Cincinnati!!! Quite the accomplishment. I am very proud of him and love him more than I can express. We also added our 4th child Mr. Chin to the family.

Great year for me. I received a scholarship for graduate school at Xavier University and my tennis team won the women's championship!!! I attended my 20 year high school reunion and reconnected with many dear high school friends. I love my job and living Cincinnati is growing on me. Actually, I live in Mason where my father is the mayor and my sister is the prosecutor. Sometimes I feel like a conservative Kennedy minus the yachts and homes in Connecticut. My goals for this next year are to love my family more, attempt a new hair style, gets straight A’s and strive for some arm definition by summer.

In the next decade, I will turn 40, have a daughter graduate from high school and college and have a 16 year old son with a drivers license. I’m scared to death, but with each day I thank God for the blessings he has put in my life and I hope that in the next decade my life lessons can be used to help others.

Happy New Year to you and yours!!!!!