Millennium Magic - advice for African American women - Brief Article

Ebony, Jan, 2000 by Laura B. Randolph

FOR months, it's been the topic of conversation. For the last few weeks, in fact, I haven't been able to go anywhere and Sisters weren't talking about it. Millennium New Years Eve, that is. How they were going to celebrate it. Where they were going to ring in this once-in-a-lifetime moment. What they were going to be doing and with whom they were going to be doing it on the turn-of-the-century night.

When the nines roll over to zeros, everybody in the world, it seems, wants to be doing something memorable. Everybody (and I am including myself) wants a little millennium magic. And when I say everybody, I don't just mean Sisters. New Year's is the single most popular holiday in the world, and the people of more than 160 countries will celebrate it.

Unfortunately, if my conversations with Black women across the country are any indication, planning an evening that actually contains a little of that longed-for magic is a lot like so many of our past New Year's resolutions--(pick one) lose weight, stop smoking, start saving--a whole lot easier said than done.

One notable exception: For those Sisters out there with, as the teenagers say, "stupid money," if it's millennium magic you want, look no further. I have found it. We're talking the ultimate New Year's Eve 2000 package. The fun begins at your place when, on December 30, a private butler arrives at your door with--get this!!--personalized Louis Vuitton luggage to pack your bags, then escort you and a friend to your New Year's destination: Palm Beach. Specifically, the most luxurious suite at The Ritz-Carlton Hotel, where you and your guest will spend three nights in the most luxurious suite on the island.

Can't stand those fully booked holiday flights? Not to worry, my Sisters. Along with your private butler, a private jet will be sent to pick you up for the trip. And, just to make sure you don't get bored en route, you'll receive all kinds of special in-flight services--dinner, champagne, massage and manicure. When you step off your private jet, a new Jaguar (chauffeur-driven if preferred) will be waiting to transport you around the island. And, on the unlikely chance you might not remember every detail of your trip--your private New Year's Day breakfast complete with personal psychic reading, the lovely parting gifts (a magnum of Tattinger, two crystal Baccarat champagne flutes, a men's and ladies 18kt gold Bulgari watch, to name a few), your entire millennium experience will be preserved for you by your personal videographer.

The entire package can be yours for a mere--go ahead and guess. No clue where to start? Okay, I'll tell you, although this is the kind of trip for which the old adage "if you have to ask the price you can't afford it" was clearly created. The tab? A pricey $100,000. But, hey, not to worry. That includes all taxes and gratuities. So when your significant other asks "What do you want to do for New Year's," show him this column. It's a pretty good bet that, whatever you want to do to celebrate the change of the century--attend a swank soiree, splurge on a bottle of Cristal, throw a party at home for family and friends--will start to look pretty dam good.

However you decide to spend the last night of this century and the first day of the next, I truly hope that, over the course of the year, every Black woman in America will actively seek ways to bring health, happiness and prosperity into her life. Toward that end, I've put together a short list--just four little things--which, if we commit to and embrace, are guaranteed to make our lives better, richer, fuller. With all due respect to the folks at the Palm Beach Ritz-Carlton, now that's what I call millennium magic.

1. Spend your time just as wisely as you spend your money. You've never seen a Brink's truck following a hearse. Remember: Money is replaceable; moments aren't.

2. Develop a personal relationship with God. Without it, no amount of money or things will fulfill you. Just ask the multimillionaire sports superstar Deion Sanders. After he and his team won the Super Bowl, he has said, "I just felt empty. I knew something was missing." That something, as Sanders says he learned, was "coming to Christ." Now, he says proudly, "My kids will remember their father was a great Christian."

3. Date/love/marry a man for who he is, not who you want him to be. As author Joan Morgan so aptly puts it in her book, When Chickenheads Come Home To Roost: "When it comes to romance, Sistas need to eliminate the words `if only' from our vocabulary. What dude will be in five years `if only' he got therapy, healed his relationship with his mother ..., focused, or got over his commitment anxiety is really none of our business. Potential is a relationship between an individual and God ... (And) even if a man becomes all the wonderful things you believe he can be, there's absolutely no guarantee that he'll become them with you. In all likelihood, it's the Sista whose standards won't allow her to settle for anything, less that's going to end up with that finished product.