Another Day

I awoke this morning a bit later than usual, which should not be a surprise, considering what day it is.

It seems a bit foolish in a way to stay up late just to usher in a change of the calendar form one day to the next, even if it is marking a new year.  After all, it is just a day, just an arbitrary point in time, right?

Unlike prior years, though, last night my wife and I participated, with over fifty others, in a service of prayers and Eucharist which began at 11 pm and ended just at the stroke of the new year.  Normally, we would be fast asleep by then, but because I was serving as deacon in my first New Year's Eve service, we changed our hum-drum plans and started what could become a new tradition.

I was never one to get all excited about the change of the year.  I remember attending a few parties when I was much younger, and the one thing that comes to mind is the waiting.

No matter what time the party started, by 11:00 or so, most of the guests had run out of things to talk about.  So there we would be, hanging out in front of the TV, waiting for the real party to start.

Later on, I discovered I could have a much better time at the party, if I changed my thinking. For several years, before a good friend, Paul, died, he and his wife, Wanda, established a tradition on New Year's Even of sharing the time waiting and celebrating with a bevy of close friends.  This was a circle of friends that my wife had belonged to before I came on the scene, so, needless to say, I could have been the odd-man-out.

I wasn't.

This was a different type of crowd than I had encountered in the past.  They were people who truly cared about each other; they weren't phony or pretentious about anything.  They were welcoming and warm.

My family wasn't as welcoming and open as they were!

What I learned from them was that friendship matters.  It is a bond, but not a burden.  It is a joy, not a chore.  It is love.

Yesterday, a few hours before we made our way to The Bronx to celebrate with my new church family, we received a call from another close friend, Barbara.  She and her husband, John, were part of that circle of wonderful friends who would laugh and hug and embrace life together at Paul and Wanda's party.

Barbara called to wish us well in the new year, and to reminisce about those New Year's Eve parties.

So, it is with a touch of sadness that I remember Paul and John and all who are no longer with us, but it is also with joy, for I have those memories.

I could have continued to face the flipping of the calendar as just another day, and if I stayed in that mindset, I would sip my drink, stare at the clock and pray for it to be over.  But what kind of life is that?

Last night, I took the time to look into the eyes of everyone I hugged, everyone I kissed and everyone whose hand I shook, and I saw something that reminded me why we come together.

My prayer for this year is that all of us find that something in the eyes of all we take the time to meet.

Wishing you all a blessed and joy-filed new year...