Back in Istanbul, Turkey, where my family is from, my maternal grandmother had a ritual every New Year's Eve -- something that falls into a category I like to call "Middle Eastern Voodoo." (Note to self: write a post on MEV in 2008 for all of you...)

My grandmother, Arshagouhi, would take a pomegranate at midnight and throw it out the front door of their teeny apartment, allowing it to shatter into a million pieces on the street. With the toss of the strange fruit, she would make a wish: that each seed would multiply into as many chances for good luck. The image touches me every year, the primitive wishes of good fortune from a mother of four living in poverty.

On New Year's Eve 2005, I went into early labour and began the wait for my pomegranate. Two days later, my first child was born. His fortune for us was great love, a stable job for Daddy, our first house -- stability and giant leaps into adulthood.

This isn't a new thought. There is an old Jewish proverb that says, "Every child comes with a loaf of bread under its arm." We often chart astrology and Chinese horoscopes looking for signs and hope that our children will improve and enrich our lives.

2007 was the year of the Golden Pig, an event that occurs once every 60 years in the Chinese calendar. The Chinese believe this to be the most auspicious year for a child to be born. And so we rang in the birth of our Golden Pig this past August. What will her fortune bring? Though the arrival of Lucine has brought smaller wallets and less space in our home and car, I am excited to enter 2008. Lucy-Goose has also brought us bigger hearts and completed our family circle, bringing me inner peace and a strength I never knew I had.

Here's hoping your children and grandchildren bring you good health, prosperity and loads of happiness in 2008.