New Year's Traditions

     New Year's Eve was always a fun holiday growing up.  As a child it was a treat to stay up until midnight.  It felt like it took forever for the midnight hour arrive to watch Dick Clark count down the seconds and ring in the new year.  There was something dazzling about ringing in the new year.  It was a new start on the way I wanted my life to go.  What would happen?  What news events would grace our TV?  What changes would come our way?  It was a mystery waiting to be discovered.

     My mom would fix up snacks for the night.  Mostly it would contain a cheese roll, crackers, popcorn, Kool-Aid, and for the brand new year a glass of wine.  Just a glass.  We would sit around watching movies or playing board games such as RISK or Monopoly.  The TV would be on in the background and my mom would soon let us know the new year was upon us as she would give a 15 minute warning.  Our eyes would be glued to Dick Clark and the hullaballoo going on in New York City.  My brother, sister and I would talk about how much fun it would be to go there in person, being part of that crowd and watching the ball fall.  I still hope.

     There was one time when we missed watching Dick Clark growing up.  My mom was dating someone and we traveled to Holland, Michigan to celebrate the holiday with him and his family.  In their family New Year's was an adult event.  Children were supposed to go to bed, with the TV off, by 9.  The adults stayed upstairs to ring in the new year.  We were crushed.  To miss Dick Clark was like missing Santa Claus.  I remember crying myself to sleep that year.  Even as I entered adulthood I had to watch Dick Clark.  One other time I missed Dick Clark was when I went to celebrate New Year's with my sister and her family.  It was around 11pm and I asked her to turn on Dick Clark.  She then informs me that her TV wasn't working.  I must of seemed like a deer in headlights.  NO DICK CLARK!  I was not going to settle for that.  I grabbed my IPhone to watch it from there.  My phone battery was completely dead.  I was not going to settle for not watching the ball to fall.  I found a ball and raised it up over my head.  Someone called the phone "time" number which gave the time every 10 seconds.  When the midnight hour came I dropped the ball and yelled out, "HAPPY NEW YEAR!"  It wasn't the same and I hated to miss Dick Clark but I do remember that year. My children began to look forward to seeing him count down the ball falling.  We were saddened by his death.  It was like a part of my childhood has died.  I am thankful that my older children would remember him and share in a part of my childhood tradition.  My younger children will never know.

     We would write out our New Year's resolutions.  We would lay out and compare each other's resolutions.  Mostly mine would contain better grades, to behave better (as I was a real rascal at times), lose a few pounds, and to write a story.  We would seal them up in our envelopes to be opened the next year to see if we fulfilled our resolutions.  Most of the time we would forget about them in two weeks.   It was more than just wishes on our life.  It was a plan for our life; a direction in which we wanted to go.  It was a path to take into the new year.  It was a chance to take a breath in our chaotic lives and to begin fresh again.

     After the ball would fall we would tap our wine glasses together and sip our wine.  It always made a funny butterfly feeling in my belly.  We were only allowed one glass.  The phone would ring and it would be Nonnie and Grandpa (my mom's parents) wishing us a happy New Year.  We ran into the hall way where our phone was located attached on the wall.  We would happily share with them the fun activities we did and tell them about what we watched on TV.  We would try to stretch the phone cord into the living room so we can continue to see the commotion going on in New York City. 

     We would finally pass the phone to mom and us siblings would watch the TV together.  Then as if a switch was flipped on inside of us we all started running around trying to see who can do what first in the new year. 

     "I was the first to pet the cat!"  Marc would shout.
     "I was the first to open the front door!"  Yelled Lisa.
     "I was the first to turn the light on and off!"  I would bellow.

     We ran all over the house being the first.  We were even proud of being the first to use the toilet.  We would run to mom, who was still on the phone, as if it were a race to be the first to give her a hug and a kiss.  Everything was new again.  It was, after all, a whole new year.

     And then it was over.  The new year was beginning.  There was no going back.  It is what it is.  The year was young and unfamiliar.  It was guaranteed that changes will take place but we didn't know what they would be or when.  It was an exciting time.  It still is.  The memories that grow in my heart and stay with me in my mind are held dear to me.  Each new year is a new journey.  It's a new chapter in my life.  The page continues to turn....