As with so many people today, Edwidge Danticat is waiting to hear news about her family members living in Haiti. She knows some of them are alive but has yet to hear from others. My heart goes out to her, and to everyone in her situation.

It felt important to start the New Year off honoring a woman that represents change and rebirth. Who better than Madonna? A cat may have 9 lives but Madonna’s repertoire seems unlimited. Each time you think she is down for the count, she comes back different, shiny new and better than ever.

And glide she does. We’ve all watched Sandra Bullock entertain us with steady consistency over the past couple of decades. She has played all types of roles, she seems to have no limits, yet we always recognize ‘her’. And we like her. No fake boobs, no collagen lips - just her natural, girl next door self. She carries on as if she were not among the top ten highest paid actresses this year. She seems, well, normal.

How can any one person be as caring and passionate, as talented and hardworking, as selfless and giving as Annie Lennox?

Steffi Graf has long been a woman that I admire. She is a study in balance - feminine strength, quiet confidence, maintaining her privacy as a public figure, dedicated mother and successful career woman, focused and passionate, controlled and caring.

Although it is much easier to find news items regarding her lips, fashion choices or sex life, Nicole Kidman, our Delamina woman of the week, is very active in her role as Good will Ambassador to UNIFEM which, this month, launched a new initiative.

This past week was full of significant events. Some very dear friends celebrated the at first unexpected, and then very much anticipated, birth of their baby bundle of boy joy. My 5 foot tall, stubborn, spitfire of a grandmother celebrated her 99th birthday. And the 2009 Women’s Conference took place in Long Beach, California

Somaly Mam is one remarkable woman.

Maria Shriver was in the news for two separate reasons this past week. Once for being seen talking on her cell phone while driving and again for releasing The Shriver Report, A Woman’s Nation. Can you guess which story got the most coverage in the press?

I can imagine being married to and having three children with a loving man who goes off to war and comes back changed in a way that just doesn’t work, that involves violence - and needing to leave him. I can almost imagine the fear and sense of loss when he steals the children and flees the country - and having to fight long and hard to get them back.

Melissa, where do I begin? I’ve only seen you in concert once, but your raspy voice moves the very core of me. I respect the way you know who you are and live your life with such definition.

She was inevitably going to be a Delamina woman. I have been waiting to celebrate her freedom, which keeps slipping out of reach, but a few events converged over the past couple of weeks that make now the absolute right time:

This week it was announced that Ellen Degeneres will replace Paula Abdul as a judge on American Idol. Whether you like reality shows - Idol in particular - or not, the reaction to this choice is interesting to observe. There certainly is no dearth of opinion and people are passionate in both extremes.

I grew up knowing the wonderful voice and the charming charisma of Diane Sawyer. She is the perfect blend of credibility, femininity and balance. A serious contender in what was a man’s world and a great role model for little girls everywhere.

Burning Man, the strange ritual that happens once a year in the middle of the Nevada desert is taking place this week. In a week where people go out in the sand and ultimately set things aflame – Southern California is burning, and so did some homes in my neighborhood.

When I was very young I dreamed of being a professional philanthropist (frankly, I still do) – and Rania is just that. With her business background and her brains - it suits her very well. And then there is the added benefit that she can afford it.

Independent and persistent, Sheryl Crow adopted a child and is raising him as a single mother. She has had an amazing and rich set of experiences in her life so far: singing backup in Michael Jackson’s Bad world tour; dating the super-human Lance Armstrong; singing duets on stage with Mick Jagger; winning multiple Grammy awards; and beating breast cancer, to name just a few.

One week ago the world laid Corazon Aquino, former president of the Philippines, to rest. Cory wasn’t a perfect leader, but she did give it her all.

You know what to do Ms. Sotomayor. You’ve always known what to do.

This past month I’ve felt a profound sense of loss. It started at the end of a wonderful vacation in Paris when my laptop took a tragic, and fatal, tumble.

We all yearn to make an imprint on the world, make a difference, leave some kind of lasting impression. And most of us want that to be a positive change, to make the world a better place.

Thank goodness for of my good friend Karen, who had a period of being a bad girl herself. As did most of the interesting women that I know.

An amazing thing happened last week, justice prevailed and a talented young woman was set free. Roxana Saberi has lived a life that has been referred to as a “testament to diversity and democracy”.

The New York Times published an article today that shocked me. There is a company that has patented genes that are associated with increased risk of breast and ovarian cancer – and also the tests that measure for the presence of these genes.

Today is Earth Day – what are you going to do about it? We now all know that the planet is chock full of limited resources and that some are more sustainable than others. Each little thing we do has an impact. What kind of example are we setting for our kids and what kind of mess are they going to inherit?