HaveHow many New Years have come and gone in my lifetime? I remember some of them but not with a great deal of fondness.
It seems like I never thought much about
New Year's when my children were small. I remember that we went to Emma's house for a late Denton Christmas. The Dentons agreed to have their Christmas on New Years Day so that the families could have Christmas with the in-laws. That usually worked out fine. A few times we had it at Granny's house but later on it was at Emma's.
At first we all drew names--adults with adults and children with children. As our families grew we soon limited the gift exchange to the children. Sometimes some adults bought gifts for the children. One year Emma gave Tony a ceramic wishing well. It was inexpensive at the time but has since become a collector's item, being a McCoy. These same little brown wishing wells sell at antique stores for $20 to $30. Tony still has the one Emma gave him. Others in the family have some they bought at antique stores.
Later on, there were sometimes New Years' Eve family dances at the LDS Church cultural hall. These typically ended at 11:00 p.m. to allow people to get home before midnight. As the kids were growing up we sometime went to some of these.
Later on, in their dating years, we sometimes stayed up until midnight. They would be listening to their music or doing fireworks and I would be drinking eggnog and listening to Guy Lombardo's New Year 's Eve TV show, which always ushered in the new year with his moving rendition of Auld Lange Syne. New Year's was never the same after Guy Lombardo's show stopped.
The kids grew up, married, and moved on. They had children and granchildren. The Denton family Christmas stopped many years ago. I don't know if there are still church dances. If so they are for the young and not family dances. I don't know if anyone stays up to see the New Year in.
As for me, I write about New Year's Eves of bygone days, drink my egg nog, and go to bed at ten. Happy New Year.
