It has been a hard year in many ways.

We lost one our most faithful public servants in March when DuPont L. Davis passed away. He spent 20 years serving the people of Hertford County and eastern North Carolina and he is missed even today.

In December, our collective hearts were torn again when we lost Sgt. Will McLawhorn to an enemy attack in Afghanistan where he was serving his country in the United States Army.

We also lost the man known as the voice of reason in Gates County when Commissioner J.S. Pierce succumbed in November of this year.

2010 has been a long and tough road. In addition to these deaths that were felt throughout the Roanoke-Chowan region, there have been many struggling in their own lives.

Some have faced difficulty to pay their mortgage, their car payment, their rent and their utilities.  It has been a year that has been hard on us all.

Is there hope in the future? We certainly don’t know. There will be a new Congress – one that will pit Republicans and Democrats in an even stronger battle for control of our government.

But while there may be more bad times ahead, we also must believe there are good times to come. This nation is one of people who work hard, give their all and bounce back from disaster.

We’ve been taken to our knees before, but we came back. Americans are a resilient bunch and we’ll come back again as we have many time before. We’re good people and – despite our many differences – we know how to work together when it counts.

2011 can be the year we start to recover. It can be the year America turns the corner and becomes an economic power again. We’re hoping and praying it will be.

– The Roanoke-Chowan News-Herald