When this decade started, my life was very different.

I was in my fourth year as a newspaper columnist, enjoying my job more than I ever had at any time. I had just turned 50, but I felt pretty good about it. My wife and I had enjoyed our vacation the previous summer at a Club Med in Moorea, one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen.

[caption id="attachment_206" align="alignright" width="300" caption="The longest decade"]<img src="http://mikerappaport.net/onevoice/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/parker-300x235.jpg" alt="The longest decade" title="" width="300" height="235" class="size-medium wp-image-206" />[/caption]

Our daughter was a sophomore at UCLA, and our son was in his first year of high school.

The country was still in what people now call a "pre-911 mentality," and the biggest issue was whether Bill Clinton had destroyed his legacy with his Monica Lewinsky escapades. The stock market was soaring, with the NASDAQ due to peak above 5,000 in March 2000.

Most folks outside of Chicago had never heard of Barack Obama and most folks outside her own family had never heard of Sarah Palin.

Was it really only 10 years ago?