Happy New Year to all my friends and readers and everyone else! ?1-1-11 must be an enchanted day!! It is fun just to write that date and watch all those “1 s” appear as little exclamation points.

I wore my new furry boots from Nobel Neilsen in Middleburg Virginia, on New Years Eve, (cause I actually just went out to baby sit some of my grandchildren)

New Year’s Eve is NOT a good night to party just for the sake of partying…..So I NEVER go out unless there?is a really good reason. ?These days I have such a wealth of memories of New Year’s Eve that span much more than half a century. So many contradictions, so many wonderful and also some sad New Years memories.

When I was ten years old I was allowed to watch on a black and white, small screened Television as people gathered to usher in the New Year in. ?It was a special favor. ?I remember the feelings I had that evening as if they happened recently. ?My heart was both joyous and full of?unendurable sadness and longing. ?I watched people dancing, all dressed up in black tie (or was it white tie? i cannot remember ) They were full of cheer and seemed to be enjoying the very best night of their lives as the ball dropped in Times Square. All the glamorous people seemed to live in New York City. While I sat in my parents house in my nightie and bathrobe watching them enjoy themselves.

I wanted to be “grown up” so much that it was an actual pain in my heart. Their televised frivolity and fun looked to me like the epitome of person-hood. ?The feelings welling up in my heart were so intense that it drove me to take the diary that someone had given me and write my thoughts and longings down so that I could remember them. It was my first diary entry ever. ?I still have that diary. And I still write something almost daily. ?Who knew that that diary and the habit of writing would cause me to find a late life career.

In the intervening fifty (and more) years all those longed for experiences have been mine. Yet it did not take all that long before I realized that New’s Eve could be a very over-rated evening. ?Too many people used it as an excuse to drink far too much, to over step the line in ways guaranteed to make others uncomfortable. ?We swore off parties on that evening.

For many years as a married couple we had friends spend that evening at a house party with us, in a cabin in the country. ?Then there was a period of time when a very ‘well to do’ older woman threw an annual New Year’s Eve dinner party. We became regulars enjoying some truly wonderful evenings at her lovely home. After she died we went back to watching a movie on that night and going to bed before midnight.

On New Years Day 10 years ago my marriage ?began to be unravelled and my new life began, though I did not know it at the time. ?So often we do not see the significance of an event until years have passed. ?Was it good? Was it bad? Only time will tell. ?This year I have the greatest hopes for expanding my horizons and being successful in new ventures. ?My wish is for all of you to be happy and healthy and prosperous and kind.

What are your thoughts on celebrating the old year passing? ?Do you go out? Do you have a tradition that makes you feel connected to others or one that is solitary? Share them with me, won’t you?

Have a Happy!