New Year's Eve Rememberories

When I was a kid and my grandparents were still living in NYC, before their migration to Florida, I can remember New Year's being a fabulous event! Each year, my grandparents would throw, what I thought, was this amazingly fun and outstanding party with all their family and friends and just about anyone who walked in front of their apartment building on December 31st. Maybe it was so amazing because I was a kid. Maybe it wasn't as amazing as I'm remembering but it was fun.

We would all gather at my grandparents' apartment, still decorated from Christmas and now adorned with New Year's decorations, and every few minutes the bell would ring and in would come someone new. Our family was almost always the first ones there. Followed by cousins and "aunts" and "uncles". My cousins and I would run and play and anxiously await midnight, because we were never allowed to stay up this late. We played bartender and would get people drinks- usually made by an actual adult- and then we'd collect our tips. By the end of the night we sometimes had as much as $5 to split between the three of us. The TV would be blaring Dick Clark's New Year's Rocking Eve and everyone would be eating and drinking, enjoying each other's company- all wearing those crazy sparkly New Year's hats. I loved those parties.

Midnight would roll around and we'd put on our coats and hats and one of the adults would give us a pot and a spoon or two pot lids and after we wished everyone a Happy New Year and gave out hugs and kisses, we'd head outside. I'm not sure where or how the tradition started but for as long as I could remember when midnight struck we'd head outside and bang pots and pans all around the neighborhood to welcome in the new year. We never thought about waking people up because we assumed everyone was partying like us. It never bothered us that it was 20 below out because we were up past midnight. We never thought about the fact that once we got inside we'd probably have to put on our pjs and get ready for bed because in that moment we were having fun.

When my grandparents moved to Florida, the parties stopped. By this time I was a preteen and then teen and I started either finding things to do with my parents or my friends. My sister and I tried going out around our NJ suburb to bang pots and pans for a few years following the last party, but it just didn't have the same effect. It was disappointing. As I got older, I assumed New Years would take on a whole new meaning. There would be insane parties with ball gowns and streamers and horns. I would be out with friends until the wee hours partying and ushering in the new year. I don't think that ever happened. There were a few parties. There were a few years where I had a couple of people over to our house. It just wasn't as big as it had been when we were kids. My parents started going out each year with friends of their for dinner and continue to do that to this day. We started having people over for New Years eve but have been lucky if one of us has actually stayed awake for midnight. I thought about taking the boy out tonight to bang some pots and pans but I have a feeling it would be lost on our current neighborhood- read:we'd have some unhappy neighbors. It's sad. I would love for him to understand the joy and wonderment that my cousins and I had when we went out at midnight to make noise and let everyone know it was the new year. I would love for him to share in that tradition even though has been hibernating for some time now. Maybe I will take him....

New Years eve, while it ushers in the first day of the next year, is somewhat anticlimactic. I love the idea that tomorrow we get this free pass to start anew. Tomorrow is 2008. 2007 is over and done. We can move forward with a brand new year. We sign 08 to our checks and forms that we fill out, now. It is brand new. Tonight we'll welcome in the New Year with friends and family. At midnight I'll call my parents and their friends, as I do every year, and talk to each of them as the phone gets passed around the restaurant. I'm betting by 1am we'll be tucked into bed asleep or lounging on the couch snacking with our friends. Tomorrow, we'll get up and move forward. We'll start a new year with new hopes and dreams and thoughts for how the year will go. Who knows maybe next year we'll be ringing in the New Year with a big party and banging of pots and pans?!