2011....The Year For Three Angels....One Lesbian....And Hardwood Floors

                               

     While Christmas is low key in Florence, New Year's is not.  The streets were bursting with thousands of people singing and drinking champagne.  Fireworks were set off from many of the piazzas starting long before midnight.  As I looked around at all the faces from many different countries I could not help but feel this sense of excitement for 2011.  While for many the previous years have been difficult, there just seems to be an air of confidence that 2011 will be a year of happiness and of dreams coming true.

     So many people I know are, unlike other years, daring to dream that this year will be the year that they will "get it all".   Others just simply have decided to let go and trust that this will be the year for their dreams to come true.  In many ways I think it takes more courage and strength to let go and trust, then it does to dare to dream.  For others, 2011 is the year that they are going to step outside of their comfortable lives and take chances to make their dreams come true, rather then sitting back and thinking about the could haves and should haves.

     So many have dreams for 2011.  I have two wonderful girlfriends;  one a blonde,  one a brunette and then there is me the red head.  For us, "Charlie's Angels", we dream that 2011 will bring peace, happiness, adventure and all that is the making of wonderful memories.  We are looking forward to our first big adventure together; Charlie's Angels in Tuscany.  Dreams can cross continents.

     My best friend has it all in that she has wonderful children, a man that adores her to share life with,  and here is where we are all jealous, this man loves buying her Pandora jewellery almost as much as he loves her.  But even she has dreams for 2011; to get rid of the old carpet in her living room and replace it with hardwood flooring.  Dreams can be big or small, but sometimes even the simplest of dreams can bring great happiness.  

     And then there is my dear friend who I affectionately call "my lesbian university friend".  She dreams that 2011 will bring with it the planning of a wedding with the woman that she very happily lives life with.  Well that is if we can get her partner to get around to filing her divorce paperwork.  Paperwork filed or not, in many ways she has it all in that she can openly share her life and love with those around her.  It is because of generations before her that have fought to be able to openly love someone regardless of their sex that her dream is now obtainable.  Not only is her dream obtainable, she can be excited that her friends and family are every bit as much as her looking forward to the day that we celebrate her relationship with her partner.  Dreams are not discriminatory.  

     Dreams are not just for women.  I can think of four male friends that while they have the beautiful house, the cottage, the expensive cars and have the means to take trips anywhere in the world, they still dream....to share that with a woman that they can laugh each day with, feel passion for and feel deeply connected to.  Really the dreams of men are not that different then the dreams of women, they just don't talk about them as opening as women do.  Dreams should be shared.    

     For the men and women in my life; I hope that 2011 is the year for all your dreams to come true whether it be to find a great love, to celebrate great love, to travel the world and make memories full of adventure or to get hardwood floors.  For me.....I haven't checked the Chinese astrological chart, but I am confident that instead of 2011 being the year for snakes, rats or asses (oops I meant horses), it will be the year for angels.