• by Lydia Loizides , Op-Ed Contributor, January 3, 2008

For those of you who know me, the statement I am about to make is rather obvious. For those of you who don't know me, well, let's just say I am an absolutist. That is to say, I absolutely feel one way or another about this way or that; I tend to have opinions that are black or white, never gray; and generally, when asked, "But why?" my reply is always, "Just because."

So, when I met my husband, there were a few absolutes that divided us. He flew private planes and gliders for sport -- I would absolutely never be a passenger; he listened to Bruce Springsteen -- I would never listen to that music; and he always watched David Letterman -- I would never oblige.

Now, after 10 years of marriage, I still haven't flown in a plane or glider that he is piloting (insurance reasons mostly, and a deep-seated paranoia of orphaning the kids), but I have an iPod packed with all of Bruce's albums from 1975 to the present, and a 5-year-old who had a customized "The Seeger Sessions" birthday cake last year. And nothing, but nothing, can make me laugh harder than a good Letterman show.

The moral of the story: absolutism is good in the moment, but one should always reserve the right to change one's mind. So welcome back, Dave. I hope this is a signal of good things to come for one and all in 2008.