These suburbanites looking up as 2010 begins

With the economy running on fumes and continued hostilities in the Middle East, 2009 is not going to make too many people's Top 10 lists.

For many, it's been the toughest year in memory.

But there are many suburbanites who have kept moving forward, making the best of what life has handed them and adding a dose of optimism for 2010.

Here are the stories of three:

Miguel Valdivia

Standing bolt upright, smiling in his Army dress greens at a recent Elgin VFW Post fundraiser, few would suspect the horrific pain Miguel Valdivia has endured over the past nine weeks.

Unless they spot the crutches that are positioned near his reach. Or see Valdivia apologize as he takes a seat after standing for a few minutes.

"My leg, it hurts now and then," Valdivia, of Elgin and Belvidere, says gently. "It's been keeping me up at night."

On Nov. 5, just a day after he'd arrived at the military base at Fort Hood, Texas, Valdivia's life would change forever. As he was filling out paperwork in a room filled with other soldiers, officials say, Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan opened fire on a roomful of soldiers, wounding 30 and killing 13.

Valdivia was shot three times. One bullet struck Miguel's hip. Another entered his leg. Yet another grazed his ear.

The most serious injury was to his leg.

Family members, naturally, were shocked that such a thing could happen in the States.

"I was coming home from my daughter's volleyball practice when I heard the base where Miguel was had been attacked," his sister Leticia, of Poplar Grove, said. "My mind was like, 'Wait, he's not (overseas) yet. He's in Texas.' "

Since the attack, Miguel underwent several surgeries to repair his knee before returning home to his family, including his newborn daughter Reigna, in Elgin in late December.

Miguel says he will undergo a physical evaluation in six months, when the Army will determine if he's fit to return to duty.

"I want to go back, of course," he said. "I view what happened as an isolated incident. There is a reason I want to be, to continue to be, in the Army."

For now, he considers himself "very, very lucky." Both to be alive, and to be home for the holidays with his family.

Jean Paxton

The booths are filled with young children excitedly awaiting their lunches to arrive via miniature electric train. Few of them have a clue what a tough year it's been for Des Plaines' Choo Choo Restaurant.

Owner Jean Paxton has spent recent months fighting the city, which wanted to buy her Lee Street site in order to build a new police station and city hall, as well as the economy, which has driven down business.

Paxton calls the tiny diner her dream - she purchased it a decade ago, when her son and daughter were small.

"I spent so much time here while they were growing up," she said. "The thought that all of that work and sweat might not matter ... sometimes, during the past year, I would just go into the bathroom here and sob."

The restaurant, which opened in 1951, is a hot spot for suburban parents with small children.

In the midst of the recession, the diner is still busy, Paxton said. Though these days, it's common for parents to come in and order only for their children, and not for themselves.

With budget cuts, city officials late this fall temporarily gave up on efforts to purchase the restaurant.

Paxton says she's still worried that when the economy improves the battle will begin again.

"I think 2010 will definitely be a better year," she said. "The Choo Choo has been blessed."

Don Frye

The priesthood, many may assume, is one vocation virtually unaffected by the economic downturn.

The Rev. Don Frye, pastor of St. James Episcopal Church in West Dundee, proves that theory wrong.

Frye, who has two decades of experience in publishing and marketing, joined the priesthood in 2005.

Until this past year, he spent his time working as a bi-vocational priest - working for the American Medical Association's marketing department as well as the church.

Then, Frye says, his position at the AMA was eliminated.

"I lost my job, so I was able to connect with some of my members who had been going through the same thing," he said. "There's a little anger involved when you're dealing with loss. How do you deal with finding God in the midst of that? ... As a priest I have to sit there and say, 'Do I really trust God?' or is that something we just say to make ourselves feel good?"

On Dec. 20, Frye celebrated the Church's annual Blue Christmas service, which aims to recognize the loss many members of the community may have experienced over the past year - a loved one, health, a relationship, or a job.

With many rushing around and preparing for time with friends and family, Frye said, those losses often go unrecognized.

"This had given me a way to talk to them," Frye said. "Acknowledge your loss and grief. This is a season where you're supposed to be joyous, but the reality of life is it is hard."

The service, he said, "is a place where you can come and be yourself. We try to say we're remembering our losses, but we're thankful for the relationships we had, the jobs that we had."