Happy New Year

It's almost New Year's Eve and much of America is in its annual end-of-the-year frenzy.  What are you doing New Year, New Year's Eve? 

There are a lot of options for a good time.  Church parties or nightclub parties?  Quiet gatherings or bashes the police need to break up? Fireworks!  Lots of fireworks!  Probably all I'll do this year is stay home, watch more black and white movies,  and reminisce.  I haven't accepted a NYE party invitation in so long that I no longer get invited anywhere. And that's a shame, because I'd probably enjoy a party as long as I could be home by 10.

One of my favorite NYE parties was the one I threw while in college many years ago.  It lasted all night and my parents were very good sports about it.  We weren't twenty-one, but there was enough alcohol to open a bar.  (This was completely the opposite of the party I threw while in high school when I dumped out a punch bowl spiked with cheap booze.  Teased unmercifully for the next year, I even received an "award" at graduation - I was voted Most Likely to Head up the Next Temperance League.  Ha ha, so funny I forgot to laugh.)  Anyhow, back to that party.  The place was packed.  I never invited a bunch of the people who showed up, but I was glad to see them. As I remember, most of them were boys.  Mine was the party to be at.  Got your toolbox full of beer?  Come share it at Barbara's party.  (Although I've yet to figure out how bringing a big tool box into a party house is less suspicious than carrying a case of Rolling Rock.) But yea me... the curse of Miss Tea-totaller was over. "Bye Bye Miss American Pie" was the song of the season; and it still brings back bittersweet memories of climbing the tower at Valley Forge Park on that crisp morning.  Many relationships began and ended that night, and more than a few cars parked outside had seriously steamed up windows.  It was magical.  I was young, in love with life, and so full of hope for the future and what the new year would bring me.

Those were the days, my friend, we thought they'd never end.  We'd sing and dance for ever and a day......

Well, those days did end.  We grew up.  Many of us settled down and started families.  We were full-time adults with responsible jobs. Most of our gatherings included food - appetizers, dinners, desserts, and snacks - and not a whole lot of dancing.  We grew fat.  We grew apart.  No more all-nighters for us.  Regretfully, some of those hardy partiers are no longer celebrating on this earth.

Sound sad?  It isn't really; it's just the rhythm of life.  As the milestones which once came rapidly and defined the months and years of an exciting existence have slowed down, so too has the uniqueness of the years.  I find that except for a major event, too often tragic, each year is a lot like the last year.  Recently a friend pondered about what 2013 would bring her.  My response?  Probably more of the same.

However, I hope "the same" is a comfortable sameness.  I hope the sameness includes a healthy family, a living wage, some creature comforts, good friends, lots of smiles and laughter, you know -- the good stuff.  May you open your eyes each day happy to be awake and content to be alive.  May you be filled with purpose and joy. May you have fond memories of the past and some dreams for the future.  If that's not possible, may you at least take an anti-depressant that can keep you going.

Happy new year dear friends!  I'm looking forward to welcoming in 2013.  I'd even enjoy doing such welcoming at a New Year's Eve party (hint, hint), provided I'm off the roads and home by 10.