For most people, ending the year is more than just a cycle set by the calendar. It’s also the end of a cycle in our lives. That’s the way it’s been for me for years, especially since on Dec. 30 I observed the anniversary of my birth. (I no longer celebrate birthdays.)
Just like millions of people around the world, this is the time to look back at what life was like the previous year. To analyze our accomplishments, what could have been done better and what was totally missed. Fortunately, I am not one to dwell in self-pity, so I take my failures in stride and attempt to learn from them. As far as my accomplishments, I don’t sleep on my laurels.
I must say that for the year that just ended, I have few regrets. It was a very successful year professionally. I was once again privileged with being a witness to history, which is the best part of being a journalist. I traveled around the country meeting interesting people while promoting my book and was able to address issues near and dear to my heart in my columns and radio commentary. As for my personal life, I made very important decisions that I am hoping will improve my quality of life and that of my family.
But, before making my New Year’s resolutions — just to make sure I really leave the bad part of the year behind and start anew — I decided to follow a tradition that Chanena told me about. She is the personal shopper at one of my favorite stores and a relative of a good friend.
Chanena had a terrible car accident while on vacation in her native Ecuador last year that put her in the hospital for a couple of months. Her face was virtually disfigured. Thank God for plastic surgery. “It was an experience I’d like to forget, so I’m definitely going to burn my Viejo,” she told me during a post-Christmas shopping spree.
The Viejo she was referring to is the old year. In Ecuador, it is the custom to create an effigy that represents a person or a situation that you’d rather forget and then burn it. Your Viejo could be a political figure, an individual who made your life miserable or one you just want out of your life. It can also take the form of bad experiences or unaccomplished goals.
What people do in Ecuador is write down on a piece of paper all the things they want to leave in the past, attach it to the figure they’ve created, then set it on fire and let it burn to ashes in the middle of the street. The cleanup crews probably put this ritual on their own list of things they’d like to burn.
Ecuadorians swear by the burning of the Viejo. So I thought I’d give it a try. I’m still waiting on the results. In the meantime, I’ve prepared my list of resolutions for the new year. It’s longer than previous ones. It has some of the same ol’ unkept promises that I plan to keep this time around, and a few new ones that I hope will make 2007 a better year.
Footnote: After my column on the immigration problems of Georgia state Sen. Curt Thompson’s wife, I received an e-mail from an immigration attorney in Painesville, Ohio. While she reaffirms the fact that too many immigrants are deported without so much “as a farewell to their families,” she did point out a fact that could lead to confusion. Sen. Thompson’s wife’s legal problem derived in part from her having two petitions pending with immigration authorities. In fact, “there are many circumstances where individuals can have more than one type of immigration-related petition pending at the same time,” without having to get into legal problems.
Thanks for the clarification. You are right — immigrants already live with enough fear of our immigration laws. We don’t want to cause them unnecessary consternation.

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(Maria Elena Salinas is the author of “I AM MY FATHER’S DAUGHTER: LIVING A LIFE WITHOUT SECRETS.” Reach her at www
.mariaesalinas.com)
© 2006 by Maria Elena Salinas
Distributed by King Features Syndicate