When I was a kid, I wished my grandparents would live into the next decade. There was something about them seeing the new millennium/century with the rest of us that was neat to me, considering my grandma grew up at a time when there were very few commercial planes in the sky. My grandfather died of throat cancer in 1998, but my remaining three grandparents made it to 2000 and beyond. Almost five years ago, my dad's dad died of cancer as well. Now it's almost 2010, and a full decade has passed. My mom's mom, who is still fascinated that planes can stay in the air, is almost 86 years old. My dad's mom is 82. I think this will be the last time that generation in my family makes it to another decade.
On the plus side, this next decade should be pretty good. On a personal and general level, this last decade was an overall crap shoot. The 10s can't possibly be as bad as the 00s, right?