Hope for the new year

LIMA - If you have a 401(k), a mortgage or a job related to the auto industry, "finally!" may have replaced "happy new year!" when the clock flipped to 12:01 a.m.

The last year hasn't been the best, but several area residents remain optimistic that after the ball drops and Auld Lang Syne has been sung that Jan. 1, 2009, just might be the beginning of a better year.

"It has to be. It just has to be better. This year's been rough," said Cynthia White, of Lima.

After a year like 2008, her hopes are pretty simple.

"I hope I keep my job and basically that I have good health."

A cup of coffee and a thick medical text in front of her, Naina Gupta's studying betrays the secret of her 2009 goal.

"To pass med school, at least my first year," she said with a laugh.

Todd Crow also was thinking of education.

"I hope they correct the educational funding," he said. "I'm a school teacher, so I hope they get that straightened out, and get these schools that are in the red financed. They're putting all this money in school buildings and not supporting them."

Several people said they expected to see a turnaround in the economy as the calendar pages tear away for 2009, but not a quick or easy one.

"I think it'll be a better year. It's just going to take time and people have to have the patience to go along with it and the main thing is to help each other," said Robert O'Neill, of Lima.

Crow also said it's unrealistic to expect a quick fix.

"It's going to be a tough one, at least the next six months to a year. It wasn't easy getting into it, and it's not going to be easy getting out of it."

Gupta, home in Lima from Case Western Reserve University, also was thinking of the economy on the eve of the new year.

"Hopefully the drop has reached its low point. Some of my family lives in New York, so I'm praying for them that it will pick up, but I think it will."

Kevin Loudin, an Athens, Ohio, native in Lima for college, said he doesn't have any expectations for great change in 2009.

"Honestly, I don't think it's going to be much different than any other year," he said.

Considering it a bit more, the Ohio Army National Guard soldier did think of one area in which he expects - and hopes- to see change.

"Some things with the war, maybe some of the soldiers coming back," he said. "I do see them coming back more and more in numbers and Iraq's own people taking over."

Optimistic about a better job opportunity for herself, D.J. Black was also optimistic about the future for the country, so long as people take the time to work together.

"I hope we can pull together," she said. "I think that's the most important thing we can do, to not look so much along party lines but human lines."