To the editor:

What happened to the “New Years resolution”? Somehow in the world of cellphones and computers we lost an important idea. The idea that each of us could be a better person. A couple of generations ago, on New Year’s Eve, families would sit around the dinner table and discuss what each each member was going to do to be a better person. Little children might agree to put their toys away after playing with them or to stop picking on their little sister. Older kids might decide to help around the house more by doing some chores. Adults would promise to help each other and share each other’s lives by acts of kindness.

The author Robert Service once wrote, “A promise made is a debt unpaid.” When we celebrate a new year, it should mean more than a huge party.

It’s an opportunity to start over, open new doors, to erase past mistakes, preform acts of kindness. What resolution could you make to be a better person? Have a great day.

Robert E. Brown

Saranac Lake