New Year's Eve

Just a little snapshot as we ring out the old and ring in the new. When I was in high school, I had some pretty good New Year's Eve celebrations. I can't remember just how many I spent this way, but they were awfully good. There was a family in my town that included--among others--brothers who were one and two years older than me. I was in drama with the older of the two and played tennis with the younger. They lived in a big old house on Main St., and every year they had a big New Year's bash. Between them, they brough in a pretty diverse crowd--and a large one--and it was always a good time. We'd play cards and board games, socialize and eat the foods we all brought to share. I seem to remember some kind of gift exchange (unless that was some other party with the same family, but I think this was New Year's Eve too), in which everyone would wrap and bring something they had around the house and then we'd randomly draw an order to choose the presents: you could either choose a present from under the tree or take one someone else had taken (but you didn't know what any of them actually were until the end, just what they looked like wrapped up, which of course could be deceiving). I also have vague memories of singing songs while the older of the two brothers played piano or accordion. It was, on the whole, a very wholesome environment: no drinking or anything like that and the parents were there, but it was definitely a lot of fun. As midnight approached, we would line up from oldest to youngest with pots and pans in hand, count down the last seconds, and then at midnight stream out into the yard to run around the house banging on the pots and pans and making a ruckus. Some of us would go out and write our names in the snow for to bring in the new year. And then the party would resume where it left off.
Happy New Year, everyone!

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