New Year's Eve

                              

       The end of the year is drawing near, and the holiday that accompanies it is soon upon us.  My earliest memories of this celebration involve my parents, aunts and uncles and assorted friends in fancy clothes with lots of cocktails - Mad Men style!  Later in my life they disappeared to a club – Lions, Knights of Columbus, and ultimately a Country Club.  By then my brother and I were old enough to be home alone (in the old days that was probably 12 and 10) and we watched TV, ate chips with Lipton Soup onion dip and drank soda.  Staying up as late as we wanted, watching whatever we wanted on TV and having unmonitored junk food was all very exciting.  It was once a year and very special.  Yet I always had a nagging feeling of “is that all there is?”  The big hype about ringing in the “new year” and making resolutions held high expectations, but seemed anti-climactic.

       This changed somewhat when I got to the “partying” age myself.  Although I didn’t start to drink until I was 18 a lot of the boys I hung out with started several years earlier, and there was pressure to drink in order to have fun on New Year’s Eve.  I usually managed to avoid this, but when I hit college it was all about “partying” on New Year’s Eve.  Maybe it was my childhood memories of disappointment, but I never expected much from this holiday and felt like people were forcing the fun aspect.  “What are you doing for New Year’s” became more than a song lyric.  If you didn’t have a plan, a date, you felt somehow lacking - like prom-date-pressure in high school!  It became stressful trying to make sure you had exciting plans.

       When I was about thirty, and married with four daughters, we moved to Pasadena into a beautiful neighborhood that was the “formation” area for the Rose Parade.  This solves any New Year’s Eve dilemma!  When your neighborhood becomes ground zero for marching bands, parading horses, float line up and thousands of spectators heading toward the parade route, you have to either join the festivities or leave town! For the twenty-five years that we lived there it meant a New Year’s Eve party that was actually a big slumber party!  The guests were mostly my cousins and their families - the same crew from the Holiday Ebb & Flow blog, only we were younger!  We provided the house, they brought the sleeping bags and breakfast fixings.  I stayed out of the breakfast scene since there were already four sisters negotiating the timing, prep, service and the much-debated financial split for at least twenty-five people.  Most everyone actually walked up the street to the parade route with a couple of the men carrying ladders and a plank to set up behind the people in lawn chairs on the parkway.  This way our little ones had a great view and somehow the parade never really got old and you couldn’t help but be caught up in the excitement and festivities.  

                   

Calling The Snake with NewYear's Eve greetings!

Mike & J football watching & cat napping New Year's day!

       I have not gone to the Rose Parade since we moved from that neighborhood. We did have a few “sleep over” New Year’s Eve parties in our current house, but eventually that family tradition faded away.  Sometimes I see photos from those parties and I get nostalgic when I think of family and friends who have passed on or we don’t see much anymore.  Those are such fond memories, but I try to remember the whole picture and how exhausted I was for days afterwards.  It took lots of preparation, there were lots of people in my house for over 24 hours, there was lots of cleanup - and I didn’t get lots of sleep! 

                                    

Max & I walking home before the tourist buses take over the streets.

       These days my husband and I usually have a very sedate New Year’s Eve celebration.  Since we live in a big old house with lots of beds it can include some of our children and grandchildren and maybe some of their friends.  Sometimes our next-door neighbors have a lovely open house, but often the night includes a movie we have been looking forward to.  It is all about enjoying a day at a holiday pace, slacking on the to-do-list or just doing what we feel motivated to do – in other words, no pressure.

       I have a Facebook friend I have never met, but sometimes I know more about his daily life than I do about those I am close to.  Most of my Facebook “friends” are family, friends in my daily world or friends from the past.  Essentially we all share “the good bits” of our lives on Facebook.  Not many people post an unattractive selfie, a photo of an occasion they were in pain or a life event that was devastating.  This friend is different.  He posts it all, and with a wicked sense of humor.  He continues to deal with major medical issues, chemotherapy, healthcare system nightmares, and everyday survival while on his own with a life threatening illness.  As if this is not challenging enough several months ago his much loved partner passed after a long illness.  His posts have an honesty that is rare.  This is his life, unedited.  When I think about my motivation for starting the Stairway to Heaven blog a year ago, it was my desire to live my life as though every moment was the precious gift that it is, no matter what it held.  He has inspired me to dig deeper, look closer at my thoughts and my actions and edit out those that get in the way.  Happy New Year/Birthday, Rob and thank you for sharing!   

       So this is my New Year’s resolution.  I will continue to try to make the most of the gifts God has given me, and share my journey on the stairway to heaven.